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THE 



STORY OF A REGIMENT 



imiNG A NARKATIVE OF THE 



Service of the Second Reoiment, 



MINNESOTA VETERAN VOLUNTEER 
INFANTRY, 



In the Civil Var of i86m86c5, 




JUDSON W. BISHOFT 

(Late Colonel and Bvt. Brk;. Genl. li. S. V.) 



WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED FOR. AND BY REQUEST OF THE 
SURVIVING MEMBERS OI'" THE REGIMENT. 



ST. PAUL. MINN. 
1890. 



't--^^'e:'^-:^^-Ce- tr/^ -i^c^ 




-^^ f?iCi^ 



Hntertd according to act of Congress, in the j'car 1890, by J. W 
Bishop, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In response to the often repeated request of my 
comrades, now surviving, of the Second Minnesota 
Regiment, I recently promised to write a connected 
narrative of the service of the regiment from 1861 
to 1865. 

Having been the first man to be mustered into 
that regiment and the last man to be mustered 
out of it, and having served continuouslv in it 
from first to last, and having for more than half 
the term of service, had the responsibility of its 
administration, discipline and command, it should 
not be a difficult task for me to make a continuous 
record of all important events in its history. As 
moreover its services were always and everywhere 
honorable, efficient and satisfactory, it should be, 
and is, a labor of love to review and record them. 

But amid the absorbing and varied cares of a 
busy life I have found it imjDossible to give to the 
work the continuous attention that is necessary to 
perform such work well, and I should not be 
satisfied with it now, if I could suppose that I 
should ever have the leisure time in which to im- 
prove upon it. 

It is intended to be and I believe is, a faithful 
and truthtul record of facts and events, and as such 



2 Introduction. 

will be tested without discredit by the official 
reports and the diaries and letters of the time 
With less care in this respect, and with more free- 
dom of invention and imagination, a more 
interesting and readable w^ar story could doubtless 
have been made of it. 

In writing the story of the regiment the frecpient 
mention of names has been avoided. A great 
many of the seventeen hundred and eighty men 
who were members of it have well deserved personal 
mention for gallant and meritorious conduct, else 
the regiment as such could not have acquired its 
conceded high reputation, but it is obviously 
impossible to mention all, or some without omitting 
others equally worthy, and my comrades generally 
will, I trust, be content to claim the history of 
the regiment, which they helped to make, as their 
own, and be proud of it as they have a right to be. 

A part of the record history of the regiment 
consists of such correspondence, official reports, 
orders and recommendations as would encumber 
the progress of the narrative if placed therein ; 
these are given in the appendix, usually in full, and 
from official sources. Some of them are now for 
the first time in print and all of them will be of 
interest to members of the regiment. 

I had proposed to append also a complete 
roster giving the official military record of each 
and all the members of the regiment, but I find 
upon examination, that the only record thus far 
compiled is imperfect, erroneous and unsatisfactory. 
The compilation of a new and complete one from 
original rolls and records is impracticable within 



Introduction. 3 

the time at my command, and I am thus compelled 
to close the book without it. 

This is less to be regretted, however, in view of 
the fact that the State has by law provided for 
the preparation of an official roster of all the 
Minnesota soldiers, of which every such soldier 
now surviving (or his representative if dead) is to 
receive a copy free of expense. 

I am under obligations to comrades D. C. 
Wilson, Wm. Bircher and M. D. E. Runals for the 
use of their daily journals (1861 to 1865) which 
have been valuable references in locating events 
and dates. 

The work, such as it is. Comrades, is now sub- 
mitted in the hope that it will meet your kind 
approval and that it may revive, as you read it, your 
interest and pride in the memory of our regiment 
and of your service in and with it, as it has in- 
deed revived mine to prepare the record for you. 

J. W. BISHOP. 
St. Paul, June, 1890. 



CONTKNTS. 



CHAPTER I. —Getting Into the Service 17 

The war opens at Siimpter — The President's call 
for troops — Gov. Ramsey tenders a regiment — The 
executive proclamation — The Adjutant General's 
order — The militia companies — Company "A "holds 
a meeting — And volunteers — And is formally tend- 
ered — And accepted for the 1st regiment — Is after- 
wards left out as supernumerar3' — And awaits a call 
for a second regiment — Marching orders received — 
The company re-enlists for three years — Reports at 
Fort Snelling — Is mustered into the service — Marches 
to Fort Ripley — Other companies report and are 
mustered in — Field and staff officers are appointed — 
Regiment assembled at Fort Snelling — Preparations 
for going Soiith — Mrs. and Miss Van Cleve. 

CHAPTER II.— Going TO the Wak...: 26 

We leave Fort vSnelling— The march through 
St. Paul — Voj^age down the river — La Crosse — 
Chicago and the "Wigwam" — Our Pittsburg Re- 
ception — Orders changed — A voyage down the Ohio 
river — Louisville. Kentuck\r — A call on Gen. Sher- 
man — A night ride to Lebanon Junction — Assigned 
to Gen. Geo. H. Thomas' division — Relieved b\^ 3rd 
Minnesota regiment-Ordered to Lebanon-Brigaded 
with other regiments — The mules and the wagoners. 

CHAPTER III.— The Mill Springs Campaign 33 

Our march out on New Year's day — Leaving 

the "pike"— Rain, mud and discomfort— Only the 



Index. 



top rail — Apple jack — Logan's cross roads — Topo- 
graphy — Assembling the troops — Out on picket — 
The night before the battle — The attack upon the 
pickets — Long roll in the camps — The battle opens — 
The 2nd Minnesota goes in — The fighting "through 
the same fence" — Killing of Bailie Peyton — A bay- 
onet charge — Hon. Charles Scheffer — Death of Gen. 
Zollicofifer — The enemy routed — Our pursuit — Biv- 
ouac on Moulden's Hill — We occupy the enemy's 
camp next morning — Captured artillery, animals 
and stores — Battle flag captured by 2nd Minne- 
sota — Killed and wounded. 

CHAPTER lY.— Mill Springs to Shiloh 49 

Return march to Louisville — Dr. Jackson's farm — 
A flag presented b_v the loyal ladies of Louisville — 
Voyage down the Ohio river to Smithfield — And up 
the Cumberland to Nashville — March from Nash- 
ville — Detention at Duck river — Rain, mud and night 
marching — Arrival at Savannah — By river to 
Shiloh— The battle field— Burial of the dead— Col. 
VanCleve promoted — Band mustered out — Halleck's 
arrival — Seige of Corinth — Evacuation, and pursuit 
of the enemy — Disappointment and disgust. 

CHAPTER v.— Corinth TO Louisville 57 

Our march eastward — Camp at Tuscumbia — 
Fourth of Juh' — Gov. Ramsej-'s visit — The "bugle 
band" organized— Florence— Sensational proceedings 
in church — " Kingdom Comin " — The plundering of 
Athens, Tennessee — The murder of Gen. Robert L. 
McCook — Company " C " 3rd Minnesota regiment — 
News of the Indian massacre in Minnesota — Lieut. 
Col. Wilkin appointed Colonel of 9th Minnesota 
regiment — March to Nashville — Bragg's army 
crosses the Cumberland — The race for Louisville — 
Seventy miles in three days — "Sink holes" and 
•'dough gods"— The battle of the apples— Cave 



Index. 7 

PAGE. 

Cit\^ — A hard march via Elizabethtown to the Ohio 
river at the mouth of Salt river — Steamers to Louis- 
ville — Orders relieving Buell issued and suspended. 

CHAPTER VI.— The Perryville Campaign 69 

Killing of Gen. William Nelson— Reorganization of 
of the army — Capt. Gilbert and Capt. Ga\' assigned 
to command over their seniors — We march out to 
find the enemy — A seventeen mile skirmish — The 
battle of Perryville — Our brigade ordered in at twi- 
light — A startling experience — Comments on the 
battle — The pursuit to Crab Crchard — A cocky In- 
spector General — An arrest ordered and trouble 
promised — Crab Orchard via Lebanon, Cave Cit\' 
and Bowling Green to Mitchelville — Repairing the 
tunnel — Camp at Cunningham's Ford — Capture of 
new regiment.s — Gallatin, Tennessee — Proclamation 
of Emancipation — A lard mine — Ordered to rejoin 
the division. 

CHAPTER VII.— Triune and Tullahoma 80 

A vain chase after Wheeler's cavalry — Camp at 
the Battle farm — The Battle family — An inspection 
of the regiment — Col. George goes to Minnesota — 
A brilliant fight by our foraging party — Congratu- 
latory orders — Good-b^' to the Battle family — An 
expedition to Harpeth river — A quick march to 
Chapel Hill — A fight and capture of prisoners — 
Encampment at Triune — Building fortifications — 
Our detail samples Gen. Steed man's whiske\' — We 
get Enfield rifles — Gen. Schofield succeeds Steedman, 
and Gen. Brannan succeeds Schofield in the com- 
mand of the division — Brigade exercises — " Pup 
tents" issued — A grand review — A night march to 
F'ranklin — An inhospitable reception — Tullahoma 
campaign begins — A rainy da}- skirmish — .\n as- 
tonished surgeon — Hoover's Gap — Tullahoma 
captured — Fording Elk river. 



8 Index. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER VIII.— The Campaign and Battle of 

Chicamauga 91 

Up the Cumberland mountains — An adjourned 
university — Battle Creek — Picketing the Tennessee 
river — Building rafts and scow^s — Crossing the 
river — Nic-a-Jack Cave — Crossing Racoon moun- 
tain — Lookout Valley — Lookout Mountain — Lee's 
Mill — A scrimmage at Pond Springs — The night 
march before the battle — That breakfast we never 
ate — The opening of Chicamauga — Our first day's 
battle — The stampeded brigade — Charge of the 9th 
Ohio — Desperate fighting of our brigade — Final 
repulse of the enem3' — Next da3^ in reserve — The 
skulkers — The wounded general officer — Ordered to 
the left flank — Fight with Breckenridge's division — 
Change of front under fire — Dispersion of the enemy — 
Snodgrass Hill — Gen. Thomas — A memorable after- 
noon — Our successful defense of the ridge — With- 
drawal to Rossville at night — Every man accounted 
for — Our brigade commander's report — Heav}^ loss 
of our brigade. 

CHAPTER IX.— Chattanooga and Mission Ridge 113 

Establishing the parallel camps in line of battle — 
Scanty supply of food, forage and clothing — Our 
diversions "such as they were" — Skirmishing for 
fuel — The big guns on Lookout — Reorganization — 
Col. George is again compelled to leave us — Topo- 
graphy of Chattanooga — Enemy signalling over our 
heads — Opening of the "Cracker line" — Prepara- 
tions for the grand battle — Hooker's battle above 
the clouds — Sherman's attack on Mission Ridge- 
Grand and successful assault on Mission Ridge by 
the Army of the Cumberland — Official report of our 
regimental commander — Movements of our brigade 
and of our regiment deployed in the front — Capture 
of the first line of breastworks — Our brigade com- 
mander commends the 2nd Minnesota — Comments 
on the battle. 



Index. 9 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER X.— Veteranizing 128 

Return to Chattanooga — Burying the Chica- 
mauga dead — Invited to reinlist — Discussion in the 
camps — Eighty per cent decide favorably, and are 
re-enlisted as veterans — The non-veterans are de- 
tached — The regiment starts for Minnesota — Steam- 
ers to Bridgeport— Box cars to Nashville-And thence 
to Louisville — The freedom of the city claimed and 
granted for the veterans — Our old muskets turned 
in — A memorable ride to Chicago — That breakfast 
at CrawfordsviJle — The sleigh ride from La Crosse 
to St. Paul — Hospitality of Winona people — Warm 
reception of the veterans at St. Paul — The veteran 
furlough — Public reception at Chatlield — Address bj' 
the regimental commander — Reassembling at Fort 
Snelling — Our entertainment by the ladies of St. 
Anthony — Return by stages to La Crosse — Col. 
George rejoins here and assumes command — By rail 
to Nashville — March thence to Bridgeport — Rejoin 
division at Ringgold, Georgia. 

CHAPTER XL— The Atlanta Campaign 142 

Stripping for work — Reconnoisance — The cam- 
paign begins^Tunnel Hill — Snake Creek Gap — 
Dalton, then Resaca, evacuated — Calhoun — Cass- 
ville — The 9th Ohio goes home — The famous "hun- 
dred days" — Intrenchinga line under fire — A battery 
comes into action— Lieut. Jones killed — Gen. How- 
ard's account of it — Kenesaw motmtain — An unrest- 
ful camp — A moonlight march— A sad event — Col. 
George and our non-veterans mustered out — Unsuc- 
cessful assault of Davis' division — Kenesaw evacu- 
ated — Recruits arrive — Garrison duty at Marietta — 
Again to the front — More recruits — Back to Mari- 
etta — Post and Garrison duty — Again to the front — 
Battle of Jonesboro — Atlanta evacuated — Force and 
casualties report — An unpleasant history — Gen. 
Thomas requests the Governor to fill up the regi- 
ment — Lieut. Col. Bishop sent to Minnesota for the 



10 Index. 

PAGE. 

recruits — And returns — Hood's army in our rear and 
our pursuit — Silver horns for the band — Return to 
Atlanta. 

CHAPTER XII.— The March to the Sea 156 

The burning of Atlanta — Our march out east- 
ward — Unbuilding the railroad — An unfortunate 
train — A resurrection — Howell Cobb's farm — Mill- 
edgeville — A provisional legislature — Repeal of the 
Ordinance of Secession — The foragers and their 
methods — No straggling allowed — A Methodist 
minister among the conscripts — "See that you fall 
not out b}^ the way" — After the enemy's cavalry — 
Rice with the bark on — A foraging expedition — Fort 
McAllister falls — Supplies from the fleet — Savannah 
evacuated — 40 days' mail — Irish potatoes — Christ- 
mas and fresh oysters — Chaplain Gleason — Grand 
review in Savannah — Our regiment ordered into the 
cit}^ — In charge of Central railroad grounds and 
property — Maj. Uline sent to Minnesota for recruits. 

CHAPTER XIII.— Savannah to Raleigh 168 

The campaign of the Carolinas — We leave Savan- 
nah — Sister's Ferry — Cross the river into South 
Carolina — Devastation of the country — Barnwell 
Court House — Destroying the railroad — Pontooning 
the river — The countr3'^ on fire — Burning of Colum- 
bia — Sunday work — The Catawba river — A precari- 
ous crossing — Hanging Rock battle ground — The 
Great Pedee river — Cross into North Carolina — A 
burning stream — Fayetteville — Destruction of the 
arsenal — Battle of Bentonville — Arrival at Golds- 
boro — An impromptu review— 60 days' mail at once — 
A militar^^ execution — An inspection — The band — 
Maj. Uline returns — Some promotions — News of 
Lee's surrender — Advance to Raleigh — State Insane 
Asylum — ^Johnston's surrender^Halleck's discoui"- 
tesy towards Sherman. 



Index. 11 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER XIV.— Richmond, Washington and Home. .181 
"A comfortable and leisure^ march" — A race of 
the 14th and 20th corps — We cross into Virginia — 
Our arrival at Richmond — Forbidden to enter the 
city — Gen. Halleck proposes to review the 14th 
corps — Sherman countermands it — And orders our 
march to Washington — We "route step" through 
Riv;hmond — The Chicahominy — Pamunkey — Rapi 
dan and Rappahannock rivers — Bristoe station — 
Alanassas and Bull Run battle fields — Alexandria — 
The grand review in Washington — A magnificent 
military spectacle — Change of encampment — A visit 
and review^ by Gen. Geo. H. Thomas — Reorganiza- 
tion of our division — Col. Bishop assigned to com- 
mand the 1st brigade — Voyage down the Ohio river — 
Encampment at Louisville — 20 days of suspense — 
Muster for discharge — Farewell orders and ad- 
dresses by our division and corps commanders — By 
rail to Chicago and La Crosse — Steamer to Fort 
Snelling — A parade march at Winona — Grand recep- 
tion at St. Paul — Encamp at Fort Snelling — Fare- 
well address by the Colonel — Final payment and 
discharge — Dispersion of the men and "good-by." 

CHAPTER XV.— Concluding Remarks 192 

In the beginning, the inexperience of officers and 
men — Organization and duty by companies — The 
regiment becomes later the unit — Brigading by 
States — The soldier learns how to take care of him- 
self—The evolution of discipline — To be always 
"present and ready" — Army transportation — "Pup 
tents" — Regimental Bands — Our "pioneer corps" — 
Recruiting the veteran regiments — Comparative 
inefficiency of new regiments — Average good ph3'si- 
cal condition of the old soldier— They have generally 
been successful in civil life — .\n;l ])artially because of 
their military experience and training— The Great 
Beyond. 



APPENDIX. 



PAGE. 

No. 1. Adjutant (Teneral's order (State of Minnesota) 

to captains of militia eompanies. April 17th, 1861.. .203 

No. 2. Acceptance (telegram) of Company "A" by 

Lieut. Gov. Ignatius Donnelly. April 22nd. 1861. ...203 

No. 3. Acceptance (letter) of Company "A" b^' Lieut. 

Gov. Ignatius Donnelly. April 22nd. 1861 203 

No. 4. Order by John B. Sanborn, Adjutant General, to 
Company- "A" to turn over the arms and equip- 
ments for companies of the 1st regiment. April 
26th. 1861 204 

No. 5. Tender of "Chatfield Guards" as unconditional 
volunteers. May 4th, 1861 204 

No. 6. Application of "Chatfield Guards" for reissue 
of arms and equipments. June 7th, 1861 204 

No. 7. Orders from Ad,utant General's office to design- 
ate the post commander at Fort Snelling. June 
26th, 1861 205 

No. 8. Gen. Geo. H. Thomas' report transmitting a 
rebel flag, captured by 2nd Minnesota regiment at 
Mill Springs. Dated February 3rd. 1862 205 

No. 9. Report of battle of Mill Springs, by Col. Hi P. 
Van Cleve, commanding 2nd regiment Minnesota 
volunteers. Dated January 22nd, 1862 206 



Index to Aftendix. 13 

PAGE. 

No. 10. Official list of killed and wounded of 2nd Min- 
nesota regiment at battle of Mill Springs. (12 
killed and 33 wounded.) 207 

No. 11. Report of battle of Mill Springs, by Col. 
Robert L. McCook, commanding 3rd brigade, 1st 
division. Dated January 27th, 1862 208 

No. 12. Report of battle of Mill Springs, by Gen. 
George H. Thomas, commanding 1st division. 
Dated January 31st, 1862 211 

No. 13. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans' order commending the 
2nd Minnesota regiment (after inspection b\^ Capt. 
James Curtis ) as " worthy of imitation " 215 

No. 14. Complimentary order by Col. Van Derveer, 
commanding 3rd brigade, commending the gallant 
conduct of Sergant L. N. Holmes and fourteen men 
of Compan3- "H" in repulsing an attack of rebel 
calvary. Dated F'ebruary, 1863 215 

No. 15. Report (referring toNo.l4) of (jen.J. B. Steed- 
man, commanding division. Dated Febru.'iry 15th, 
1863 216 

No. 16. Report of battle of Chicamauga, by Col. James 
George, commanding 2nd Minnesota regiment. 
Dated September 25th, 1863 216 

No. 17. Official list of killed, wounded and captured of 
the 2nd Minnesota regiment at battles of Chica- 
mauga. (Killed 35, wounded 113, captured 14; 
total loss, 162.) 219 

No. 18. Supplementary report of Col. James George, 
commanding 2nd Minnesota regiment, commending 
certain officers and men, "for gallant and meritori- 
ous conduct." Dated September 3()th, 1863 223 

N(j. 19. Report of battles of Chicamauga, by Col. F. 
Van Derveer, commanding 3rd brigade. Dated 
September 25th, 1863 225 



14 Index to Appendix. 

PAGE. 

No. 20. Col. James George recommended for pro- 
mo tion 232 

No. 21. Official list of killed and wounded of the 2nd 
Minnesota regiment in battles of Mission Ridge. 
(Killed 5, wounded 34.) 233 

No. 22. Supplementary report of battle of Mission 
Ridge, by Lieut. Col. J. W. Bishop, commanding 
2nd Minnesota regiment. Dated December 10th, 
1863 235 

No. 23. Report of battle of Mission Ridge, by Col. 
Van Derveer, commanding 3rd brigade 237 

No. 24. Regimental promotions recommended by bri- 
gade, division, corps and department commanders. 
Dated July 14, 1864 241 

No. 25. Official report of killed and wounded of 2nd 
Minnesota regiment in Atlanta campaign. (Killed 
4, wounded 30.) 242 

No. 26. Complimentarj^ letter from Gen. A. Baird, 
commanding division, to Hon. S. Miller, Governor 
of Minnesota, commending 2nd Minnesota regi- 
ment, and asking for recruits to fill up the regiment. 243 

No. 27. Report of force and casualties of 2nd Minne- 
sota regiment in the campaign of the Carolinas. 
(Wounded 2, captured 5.) Dated March 23rd, 1865.244 

No. 28. Gen. Bishop attributes his brevet to Brigadier 
General to the gallant and soldierly conduct of the 
2nd regiment 246 

No. 29. The promotion twice recommended and re- 
quested by the corps and army commanders 247 

No. 30. The 2nd Minnesota regiment reported ready 
for discharge and requests orders to Fort Snelling, 
Minnesota 248 

No. 31. The Corps Commander's farewell address 249 



Index to Appendix. 15 

PAGE. 

No. 32. Orders to proceed to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 250 

No. 33. Roster of officers when regiment left Minne- 
sota for the South, October, 1861 251 

No. 34. Roster of officers when regiment veteranized, 
January, 1864 251 

No. 35. Roster of officers at final muster out, July, 
1865 252 

No. 36. Various statistics of the regiment 253 

No. 37. Reunion letters, (1887), from Col. H. V. N. 
Boynton, Col. F. Van Derveer, Gen. A. Baird and 
Gen. W. S. Rosecrans 254 

Error — See page 58. Gov. Ramsey's visit to Tuscumbia 
was not on, but a few days after the 4th July, 1862. 



THE 



SECOND REGIMENT 

MINNESOTA VETERAN VOLUNTEER 
INFANTRY 



CIVIL WAR OF i<S6i-i86;, 



CHAPTER I. 
GETTING INTO THE SERVICE. 

The surrender iind evacuation of Fort Sumter 
on the morning of Sunda\% April 14th, 1861, was 
followed on Monday, the 15th, b}^ the President's 
proclamation and call for 75,000 men to serve 
three months. 

In orders from the war department, these were 
apportioned among the several states not then in 
open rebellion, in ninety-four regiments of 780 men 
each, the remainder (1,680 men) to be contributed 
by the District of Columbia. 

Hon. Alex. Ramsey, Governor of Minnesota, 
being then in Washington, immediately tendered 
the regiment required from this state, and an 
executive proclamation, signed by Lieut. Governor 
Ignatius Donnelly, was published in St. Paul, April 
16th. It was accompanied by "Special Order No. 



l8 The Story of the Second Regiment 

1," Adjutant General's office, State of Minnesota, 
April 16th, 1861, by Wm. H. Acker, Adjutant General. 
This order called for one regiment of ten com- 
panies, each of 76 officers and men, and it provided 
that "the first ten companies so organized and 
"reported ready for service at this office bv their 
"respective captains will be received, provided that 
"the several militia companies already organized 
"will be entitled to the preference for the space of 
"ten days from this date, upon complying with 
"the foregoing requirements." 

The said companies already organized w^ere 
named, including Company "A" of Chatfield, Fill- 
more county, of which the writer was captain, 
and seven others, located at Mankato, New Ulm, 
St. Anthony, Clear Water, St. Cloud, St. Paul, and 
Stillwater respectively. [Appendix No. 1.) 

There were (in 1861) no railroads in Minnesota 
and no telegraph lines except the single wire from 
St. Paul along the river bank to LaCrosse, Wis. 

The proclamation and special order, mailed on 
the 17th were received at Chatfield on the 19th, 
and published in "The Democrat," on the 20th, 
with a call for ,a special meeting of the enrolled 
members of the "Chatfield Guards," (Company A) 
to be held at the Armor\^ on Monday evening, 
April 22nd, to consider the call of the Governor for 
volunteers. 

At this meeting, which was fully attended, the 
call w^as presented, with a brief address b}- the 
Captain ; and by a unanimous vote, he was author- 
ized to offer the company and "to report it 
organized, armed and ready for marching orders." 



Minnesota Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. 19 

This tender and report were forwarded by special 
messenger the same night to Winona, 35 miles, and 
thence by telegraph to the Adjutant General. (No 
copy of it can now be found.) 

On the 24th, a telegram was received from Lieu- 
tenant (and acting) Governor Ignatius Donnelly, 
accepting the company and instructing it to await 
marching orders. This was the seventh company 
accepted for the first regiment, two companies from 
St. Paul, one from St. Anthony and three others 
preceding it, having received the call two or three 
days earlier. A letter confirming the telegram was 
received on the 25th. {Appendix Nos. 2 and 3.) 

We were puzzled somewhat by observing that 
both telegram and letter were dated April 22nd, 
when our tender of service could not have reached 
St. Paul until the morning of the 23rd, but satisfied 
ourselves by presuming that they had actually 
been written on the 23rd and dated by mistake on 
the 22nd. 

It appeared later that a bogus letter purporting 
to tender the company, with 63 men, "which 
number could be increased to the full standtird 
within thirtj^ days," had been sent on the 19th 
to the Governor by some person as yet unknown, 
who had forged the Captain's name thereto, and 
that the telegram and letter of acceptance by 
Lieut. Governor Donnelly were in fact in reply to 
this bogus tender of a partial company, while our 
genuine tender of a full company was not re- 
sponded to until the 26th, when the following tele- 
gram was sent by Adjutant General Sanborn, who 
had in the mean time succeeded Acker, who had 



20 The Story of the Second Regiment 

resigned to recruit a company, of which he was 
later commissioned captain : 

"St. Paul, April 26th, 1861. 
Capt. J. W. Bishop, Chatfield : 

You will keep your ranks full if possible. Eleven full 
companies have already tendered their services, and if ten 
of these rendezvous here with full ranks your company can- 
not be received into this regiment. Some may not answer 
the order of rendezvous. 

John B. Sanborn, 

Adjutant General." 

Meantime, the company, full to the maximum and 
with more than thirty supernumeraries, had been 
busily preparing for a prompt response to the 
expected "marching orders." 

If surprised by the telegram, we were, if possible, 
more astonished by the arrival on the 29th of a 
special messenger from the Adjutant General's office, 
with an order for our guns and equipments, and the 
verbal information that the regiment had been made 
up bj' the acceptance of ten companies, which he 
explained were more conveniently accessible to the 
rendezvous at Fort Snelling, than ours. {Appendix 
No. 4.) 

The disappointment and indignation with whi h 
the order was received did not prevent a piompt 
compliance with it, and the captain went to St. Paul 
with his guns and without his company. 

The guns were received by the Adjutant General 
with expressions of appreciation of our promptness 
in volunteering and regret for our disappointment, 
but there appeared to be no redress then available, 
and the captain was obliged to return to his dis- 
armed and disgusted company and dismiss the men 



Minnesota Vokunteek Infantry 1861-1865. 21 

with the promise that, if the war should last long 
enough to call for a second regiment, company "A" 
should not again get left at home. 

After authorizing the offer of their services for 
any regiment thereafter required, the men went to 
their homes and resumed their ordinary employ- 
ments. (Appendix Nos, 5 nnd 6. ] 

A letter to Hon. H. M. Rice, then in Washington 
as senator from Minnesota, brought to the writer 
a kind reply and assurance that he should have the 
earliest possible notice of any further call for troops ; 
a promise which was faithfulW fulfilled by a telegram 
received at Chatfield in time to enable him to reach 
St. Paul a little before the call for a second regi- 
ment was received by the governor. 

The company was again tendered and accepted, 
and the marching orders below quoted were 
requested and received on the spot. 

"General Headquarters, State of Minnesota. 

St. Paul, June 14th, 1865. 
Special Order No. 5. 
Capt. JuDSON W. Bishop, Chatfield, F'illmore county. 
Minnesota : 
You will report your company at Fort SncUing without 
delay, for the purpose of having the same mustered into the 
service and pay of the United States. 
\\y order of the Commander in Chief 

John B. Sanhokn, 

.Adjutant (Tcneral." 

Similar orders were requested and obtained by 
Capt. Bishop for Capt. William Markham, who had 
a company organized in Olmsted county, which 
orders were carried bv him to Chatfield and sent by 



22 The Story of the Second Regiment 

special messenger to Capt. Markham at Rochester, 
reaching him next day. 

The war was fairly on now, and the call was for 
three years' men instead of three months. It 
required several days of active work to reassemble 
and reenlist, under the new conditions, enough of 
the men to make a full company of eighty-three 
men, the minimum now required. Yet it seems in- 
credible, as we now look back upon it, that so 
many could and would divest themselves of all im- 
peding business, social and family obligations and 
restraints, and commit themselves for three years 
to the then unknown hardships and perils of a sol- 
dier's life in time of active service. 

When we remember that our then young State 
sent into the field during the war more than one- 
seventh of her entire population by the census of 
1860, we appreciate the spirit with which every 
loyal heart responded to "The Union, it must, and 
shall be preserved." 

The enlistments commenced at Chatfield on the 
16th of June, and on the morning of the 22nd the 
company marched up the winding hillside road to 
the table land east of, and overlooking the village, 
and there halted for the final adieus. 

None who were present will ever forget that hour 
and experience, and we need not try to describe 
them to others. 

We arrived at Winona, traveling in wagons, the 
same evening, and Avent thence by river to Fort 
Snelling, arriving the next day, June 23rd, and on 
the 26th were mustered into the service of the 
United States, by Capt. A. D. Nelson, U. S. A., as 



Minnesota You'xtkhr Infantry 1861-1865. 23 

Company "A" of the Second Regiment Minnesota 
Volunteer Infantry, and the writer was immediately 
assigned to the command of the Post. {Appendix 
No.'?.) 

Captain Markham's company, which had arrived 
on the 24th from Rochester, was mustered in later 
in the same day (26th) as Company "B" of the 
same regiment. 

Meantime other companies were being recruited, 
and during the next few days were mustered in suc- 
cessively, as follows: Company "C" from Dodge 
county, "D" from Ramsey, "E" from Nicollet, "F" 
from Washington, "G" from Ramsey and Brown, 
" H " from Blue Earth, " I " from Goodhvie, and '' K " 
recruited at large. 

After being partially armed, uniformed and sup- 
plied. Company' "A" marched out from Fort Snell- 
ing on the 3rd day of July v/ith orders to garrison 
the post at Fort Ripley, 130 miles distant on the 
upper Mississippi river. This march was made 
wholly on foot, in seven da^^s, one wagon being 
allowed us for baggage and rations. This was our 
first experience on our soldier legs, and to many of 
the men it was a pretty tough one, but they all 
came through it in good condition and spirit. 
Company "F," Capt. John B. Davis, followed us a 
few days later to Fort Ripley, and Companies "B" 
and " C " went to Fort Abercrombie on the upper Red 
river, and Companies "D" and "E" to Fort Ridgely 
on the upper Minnesota river ; the other four com- 
panies remained at Fort Snelling, with Capt. A. R. 
Kiefer of Company "G" as the senior officer in 



24 The Story of the Second Regiment 

command. Thus located, the next few weeks were 
devoted to drill and instruction of the men. 

On the 22nd of July the Governor appointed H. 
P. Van Cleve as Colonel, James George as Lieut. 
Colonel and Simeon Smith as Major. Lieut. Daniel 
Heaney of Company "B" was appointed Adjutant 
and Lieut. Wm. Grow, of Company "L" Quarter- 
master. Two days later Reginald Bingham was 
appointed Surgeon, Mood}^ C. Tolman, x^ssistant 
Surgeon, and Rev. Timothy Cressey, Chaplain. 
Major Smith was within a few days appointed pay- 
master in the regular army, and on the 10th of Sep- 
tember Capt. Alex. Wilkin, of the First Minnesota 
Regiment, was appointed Major in the Second, vice 
Smith. 

Col. Van Cleve had been an officer in the regular 
army, and Lieut. Col. George and Major Wilkin had 
served as volunteer officers in the Mexican war. 
None of the other officers had ever had any actual 
military experience in the field as far as is known 
to the writer. 

A band of 20 members was here enlisted and 
organized, with Michael Esch as leader, and at the 
expense of the State was equipped with instruments 
and music. 

About the 20th of September, orders were sent 
out from Regimental Headquarters recalling the 
detached companies from the several garrisoned 
posts, and within the first week of October the reg- 
iment was for the first time assembled at Fort 
Snelling, Companies "A" and "F" making, as before, 
the march of 130 miles in seven days, and on arrival 
reporting every man "for duty." 



Minnesota Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. 25 

Here a few days were devoted to active prepar- 
ation for going to "the front." Instruction and 
drill, guard mounts and dress parades, and issues 
of clothing, equipments, arms and ammunition, 
made a very busy week of it. As the time for 
departure approached, our camp was thronged 
with visitors, some curious to see the evolutions 
and parades, and some to take leave of their 
soldier boys, who might never return. 

Most of the companies were now full or nearly 
full to the maximum number (101) and the regiment 
paraded nearly a thousand officers and men, well 
equipped, and considering their brief service, well 
disciplined and instructed, though poorly armed 
with old muskets of several different kinds and 
calibres; the best at that time available, we were 
told, and so they were carried without complaint 
until opportunity should arrive to exchange them 
for better. 

Thus far the post kitchens and mess rooms and 
company cooks had provided three bountiful meals 
a da}'^; and except for a few days on the march 
we scarcely made the acquaintance of the hard tack 
and bacon, now so affectionately remembered by 
men who then grumbled at the soft bread, fresh 
beef and vegetables so profuseh^ furnished us at 
Fort Snelling. 

During these busy days Regimental Headquarters 
were graced with the presence of Mrs. and Miss 
Van Cleve, the Colonel's wife and daughter, whose 
kindly interest in ever}- thing that concerned the 
regiment was always manifest and will be always 



26 The Story of the Second Regiment 

gratefully remembered by the men. At this writing 
(1890) both of these ladies are among the surviving 
and honorar}^ members of the regiment. 



CHAPTER II. 
GOING TO THE WAR. 



On the morning of the 14th of October, 1861, 
the regiment embarked on a large river steamboat 
under orders for Washington, D. C. An hour 
later we had disembarked at the upper levee in 
St. Paul for a parade march through the city. The 
people had come out in masses to see us off, and 
Third street from the Seven Corners to the lower 
levee was lined with crowds of enthusiastic men, 
women and children, who waved hats, handker- 
chiefs and flags and greeted our passing column 
with cheers, and smiles, and tears and bles.sings, that 
at times drowned the gay music of the band and 
broke up the r\'thmic tramp of our platoons in spite 
of our efforts to be, or at least to appear, soldierly. 

None of us could then predict that of the thous- 
and muskets, less than three hundred, and of the 
thirty-six swords, only three should at last return 
with the colors then so proudly floating over us. 
The thought was, however, in every heart that we 
had taken our lives in our hands to be laid down 
wherever and w^henever duty might call for them. 

The march ended at the lower levee, v^^here Ave 
re-embarked and proceeded down the river. Throngs 



Minnesota Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. 27 

of loyal people greeted us at every landing, the 
friends of the several companies having come from 
their homes, some of them from interior to\vns, to 
bid the boys a last good-by. 

At LaCrosse w^e were transferred to the railroad 
and arrived without noteworthy adventure at Chi- 
cago on the morning of the 16th, and were marched 
to and quartered in the "Wigwam," the large tem- 
porary t)uilding w^here Abraham Lincoln had been 
nominated for the presidency at the National Re- 
publican Convention the year before. 

Here the company officers were ordered to keep 
the men stricth^ within the building until they 
should be marched out again under arms. The 
building \vas large enough not to be crowded with 
a thousand men, but not being intended for con- 
tinuous habitation was destitute of certain conven- 
iences, which are as necessary for soldiers as for 
other human beings, and most of the companies had 
to be marched out in the evening for exercise, etc., 
in the open streets, where the maneuvers greatly 
astonished the spectators. 

We spent the night in the Wigwam and marched 
the next day to the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne R. 
R. depot, and boarded a train for Pittvsburg, where 
we arrived in the afternoon of the 18th. 

Here we were most hospitably received and 
marched to a public hall, where a bountiful hot 
supper was served by an association of loyal and 
generous ladies, who ])crsonally attended the tables, 
to which the soldiers did ample justice. This kind 
reception, and others like it, were not lost upon the 
soldiers. Thev remembered and talked of them 



28 The Story of the Second Regiment 

wherever they went, and many a camp fire was 
brightened by the memory of the kind words and 
gracious and sympathetic attentions of loyal 
women, to whom all Union soldiers were as sons 
and brothers. 

Here our orders were changed from Washington, 
D. C, to Kentucky, and on the 19th we embarked 
on three small steamers, and after a delightful 
voyage down the Ohio river, landed at L*ouisville 
on the 22nd. 

At his invitation, the writer accompanied Col. 
Van Cleve to headquarters, \vhere he reported the 
arrival of the regiment to Gen. W. T. Sherman, then 
commanding the Department of the Cumberland. 
This was six days after the famous conference at 
Louisville between General Sherman and the Secre- 
tary of War. at which the Secretary- w^as so plainh^ 
informed that if Kentucky was to be held for the 
Union, troops and arms and equipage must be sent 
there as well as to Virginia and Missouri, and the 
change at Pittsburg of our destination was one of 
the immediate results of that conference. It was at 
the time a great disappointment to us, but we did 
not complain and soon ceased altogether to regret it. 

General Sherman received us in an absent-minded 
sort of wa3% walking back and forth in his oflSce. 
He asked a few disconnected questions, evident!}' 
thinking of other things as well as of us, and ended 
the brief interview by ordering us by rail that 
evening to Lebanon Junction, thirty miles distant, 
south, on the Louisville and Nashville R. R. We 
were loaded on a train of open flat cars and spent 
the night in a cold rain storm, making the trip at 



Minnesota Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. 29 

about six miles per hour, stopping a while at ever}^ 
side track, atid occasionalh' where there was no 
siding. 

About four o'clock a. m. we disembarked and 
stacked arms in a field near the Junction and stood 
around in the soft mud until sunrise, to keep our- 
selves awake that we might be ready to entertain 
any part}' of the enemy who might make us an early 
morning call. 

Here we relieved the 19th Illinois regiment, then 
commanded by Colonel J. B. Turchin. 

Sometime in the day, October 23rd, our baggage 
and tents arrived on another train, which had 
started with us, but in some inexplainable manner 
had actually run slower than we did. Our camp 
was set in regulation style, in a field just within 
the angle formed by the main and Lebanon branch 
tracks, and at "retreat," camp guard was mounted 
and we considered the war begun so far as we were 
concerned. 

We remained here several weeks, sending out de- 
tachments to guard the railroad bridges in the vi- 
cinity, and keei)ing up the round of guard and 
picket dutv, drill and instruction. "Reveille" was 
sounded an hour before davlight, and we then h^id 
to "stand to Jirms " until sunrise to guard against 
a surprise by the enemy. 

The camp ground was damp and unhealthy, and 
in this tedious morning hour the fog settled over 
us like a cold wet blanket. Our sick list increased 
considerably until the ground was drained by deep 
ditches between the rows of tents, and the practice 
was adopted of serving every man at earh^ "roll 



30 The Story of the Second Regiment 

call" a cup of hot coffee and a hard tack, which 
kept him warm and cheerful until breakfast time. 

Here the paymaster called upon us and squared 
our accounts to the 31st of October, and here we 
enjoyed our first Thanksgiving dinner as soldiers. 

On the 15th of November, Gen. D. C. Buell as- 
sumed the command at Louisville, and on the 2nd 
of December organized the troops in Kentucky into 
the "Army of the Ohio." 

Gen. Geo. H. Thomas assumed command, on the 
6th, of the First Division, comprised of the First, 
Second and Third Brigades. 

These were composed as follows: 
First Brigade: Brig. Gen. Albin Schoepf, commanding. 

33rd Reg. Indiana Volunteers, Col. John Coburn. 

17th Reg. Ohio Volunteers, Col. J. M. Connell. 

12th Reg. Kentucky Volunteers, Col. W. A. Hoskins. 

38th Reg. Ohio Volunteers, Col. E. D. Bradley. 
Second Brigade: Col. M. D. Manson, commanding. 
4th Reg. Kentuck}^ Volunteers, Col. S. S. Fry. 

14th Reg. Ohio Volunteers, Col. J. B. Steedman. 

10th Reg. Indiana Volunteers, Lieut. Col. W. S. Kise. 

10th Reg. Kentucky Volunteers, Col. J. M. Harlan. 
Third Brigade: Col. R. L. McCook, commanding. 

18th Reg. United States Infantry, Col. H.B.Carrington. 

2nd Reg. Minnesota Volunteers, Col. H.P.Van Cleve. 

35th Reg. Ohio Volunteers, Col. F. Van Derveer. 

9th Reg. Ohio Volunteers, Lieut. Col. G. Kammerling. 
Unassigned, but later attached to First Division. 

1st Reg. Kentucky Cavalry, Col. F. Wolford. 

Battery "B"' First Ohio Artillery, Capt. W. B. Stan- 
dardt. 

Battery "C" First Ohio Artillery, Capt. D. Kenny. 

Battery " B " First Kentucky Artillery, Capt.Wetmore. 

A Batallion of Michigan Engineer troops, Lieut. Col. 
K. A. Huiiton. 



Minnesota Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865. 31 

On the 8th of December the 3rd Minnesota regi- 
ment arrived to relieve us at Lebanon Junction, 
and the next day we went b_v rail thirt\^-seven miles, 
to Lebanon, where Gen. Thomas had established 
his headquarters. 

Now, for the first time, we were brigaded with 
other troops and had the opportunity to compare 
our own with other regiments. The 9th Ohio, 
whose Colonel (Robert L. McCook) was our bri- 
gade commander, \vas composed entirely of Ger- 
mans, few of whom could speak English. The regi- 
ment had been enlisted at Cincinnati, and had seen 
several months of active service, in West Virginia, 
participating in the engagements more or less im- 
portant, at Phillippi, Rich Mountain and Carnifex 
Ferry. Their manual and tactics were those of the 
German arm}^, as many of their officers had seen 
service there. Naturally, v^ith their experience in 
actual war, they regarded us as comparatively 
fresh and we modestly respected them as veterans, 
intending, however, to stay with them in any con- 
troversy we might have by and by with the com- 
mon enemy. 

The 35th Ohio was also our senior by several 
months of service, mostly in Kentucky, but not 
having been in an\^ battle and using our language 
and tactics, they did not claim nor were they con- 
ceded any superiority. 

Both these regiments were brigaded with ours 
from this time tmtil their muster out at the expi- 
ration of three years of service, and we had 
time and opportunity for close acquaintance and 



32 The Story of the Second Regiment 

comradeship, which we remember pleasantly after 
these miany years. 

The 18th United States Regular Infantrj^ was 
then one of the newly organized regiments of three 
battalions of eight companies each. They held them- 
selves somewhat apart from us volunteers, and be- 
fore we had got fairly on the same plane wath them 
as soldiers, they were placed, with other regular regi- 
ments in a brigade b}^ themselves, the 87th Indiana 
taking their place in our brigade. 

Here we came into the immediate presence of 
Geo. H. Thomas, then a new Brigadier General of 
Volunteers, with whom as our Division, Corps or 
Army commander, w^e. served continuously for the 
next three years, until the beginning of the "Grand 
March to the Sea" in November, 1864. 

Of him as a man, a soldier or a commander, no 
man who has ever served ^vith him has any words 
except of respectful admiration. 

We remained in camp at Lebanon about three 
weeks, devoting the time mainly to battalion drill 
and to general instruction in military duties. Our 
camp ground was reasonably fit for the purpose, 
the w^eather not unpleasant for the season, rations 
were fully and regularly issued, and altogether we 
fared better as soldiers than we knew or appreci- 
ated at the time. 

Our band had well improved the long intervals 
at Fort Snelling and Lebanon Junction, and our 
parade-marches and dress parades and guard 
mounts, duly illustrated the "pomp and circum- 
stance of war." Among the things, the importance 
of which was to be better appreciated later, was 




H. P. VAN CLEVE, Colonel. 

July 22, 1861, to March 22, 1862, 

Brig General, V. S. V. 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 33 

the coeducation of the wagonens and the mules. 
This was begun here and some progress made. The 
earlier lessons afforded a good deal of entertainment 
to those not engaged in them, but were sadly de- 
moralizing to the wagoners. It has been stated 
that no man ever broke a team of six green army 
mules without breaking his christian character, if 
he had any, and the army chaplain who offered the 
long standing reward of one hundred dollars to the 
man who should drive such a team for thirt}' days 
without the use of profane language, did not have 
to part with his money. 

With all the comforts of the situation here, we 
grew weary of mere preparation, and the announce- 
ment that we were about to commence an active 
campaign received a general and genuine welcome 
in the camp. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE MILL SPRINGvS CAMPAIGN. 

On the morning of the 1st of January, 1862, 
our brigade folded the tents, loaded the baggage 
train, and, with bands playing and colors dis- 
played, marched out on the Columbia "])ike." 

Thirteen wagons were allotted for the tents and 
baggage of each regiment, and they were loaded 
to their roofs. Each man was expected to carry 
his rifle and accoutrements, with forty rounds of 
ball cartridges, knapsack with all his i^ersonal 



34 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

property, overcoat, blanket, canteen, and haversack 
with three da^^s' rations in it, a load of forty to 
fifty pounds. 

We marched that daj^ fourteen miles, and the 
next, twelve miles, encamping near Campbells- 
ville. Here we found that most of the men were 
tired, sore-footed and hungry', and many of them 
had lost their overcoats, blankets, or some other 
part of their loads on the way. The roads were, 
however, hard and smooth, and our wagons came 
up in good season, so we made comfortable camps. 

We remained here four days while the wagon 
trains went back to Lebanon and returned with 
more rations and supplies, and on the 7th we 
marched again with somewhat better preparation 
than before; the men carrying more rations, and 
less unnecessary stuff in their knapsacks, and made 
twelve miles comfortably. 

On the 8th we passed through Columbia, and 
here leaving the "pike" we turned eastward on 
the "dirt road." It immediately began to rain, 
and before night the road was almost impassable. 
The next ten days were spent alternately in short 
but tedious marches in the mud and slush and 
rain, and in waiting for the wagon trains to come 
up, so about half the nights and days the troops, 
without shelter, were b^ing in the woods or fields 
along the roadside. This in mid-winter was a very 
discouraging experience to the volunteers then on 
their first campaign. Yet they learned speedily to 
make themselves as comfortable as the circum- 
stances permitted, and things were never so bad 
that some fun could not be had. 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 35 

General Buell had issued an order that no pri- 
vate property should be appropriated by the troops 
without proper authority, and thus far the fuel 
had been provided by the quartermaster, but one 
evening we encamped in some open fields where 
there was no cut wood or forest accessible. The 
fields were however well fenced with dry rails and, 
after some exasperating delay, authority was ob- 
tained to use in this emergency " only the top rail " 
of the fence along the color line. The cheer}^ camp 
fires were soon blazing and we had plenty of fuel 
all the night; next morning the fence was entirely 
gone. The compan}^ commanders were called to 
account for its disappearance, but were unable to 
find any man who took any but the "top rail." 

As we passed through the country we found 
usualW only old men, women and children at 
home, most of the able bodied citizens having 
joined some regiment on one side or the other. In 
some cases brothers had enlisted in opposing reg- 
iments. Generally the people at home were not 
seriously foraged upon or molested, but pigs and 
geese occasionally did come into the camps and 
were duly "mustered into the arm}-." 

On the 12th of January we encamped about 
noon near an old time "apple jack" still. It had 
recenth^ been in operation and a considerable 
quantity of the seductive product thereof was yet 
in the rude building. This was speedily appropri- 
ated by the soldiers as "contraband of war," and 
a night of uncommon hilarity in the camps resulted. 

On the 17th of January the head of the column 
arrived at Logan's Crossroads, nine miles north of 



36 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

ZoUicoffer's intrenched camp at Beech Grove and 
seven mile.s west of Somerset, where the first 
brigade, commanded by General Schoepf, was 
posted. Beech Grove was a naturally good posi- 
tion on the north bank of the Cumberland, on the 
east side of Oak Creek at its junction with the 
river. Mill Springs, by which name the campaign 
and battle are known in our history, was on the 
south bank of the Cumberland opposite Beech 
Grove, and had no relation to the battle as far as 
is known ; neither had Fishing Creek, from which 
the Confederates named the aftair that took place 
on the 19th at Logan's Crossroads. Here we 
halted for the closing up of the column and to 
await Schoepf's brigade, which was ordered to 
join us. 

The first and second East Tennessee (Union) 
infantry regiments, under Brig. General Carter, 
were temporariW attached to our division at this 
time, also a battalion of Michigan Engineer troops. 
On the 18th, of the forces present, the 2nd Minne- 
sota, 9th Ohio and 12th Kentuck3^ with the En- 
gineer battalion, were encamped around Thomas' 
headquarters on the Colu'mbia-Somerset road, 
three quarters of a mile west of Logan's house. 
At and near Logan's house were the 4th Kentucky, 
10th Indiana and the 1st and 2nd East Tennessee, 
the battalion of Wolford's Cavalry and two Ohio 
batteries, Kenny's and Standart's; Schoepf with 
Wetmore's Kentucky batter3% the 33rd Indiana 
and 17th and 38th Ohio, were at Somerset; and 
the 10th Kentucky and 14th Ohio were on the 
road some miles back towards Columbia; all these 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 37 

forces joined us the afternoon or evening after the 
battle, as did the 35th Ohio. The 18th regulars 
were still further away and did not arrive till 
several days afterwards. So we had present and 
available for the battle seven regiments, two 
battalions and two batteries. Only four regiments 
and the battalion of cavalry were, however, engaged 
seriously enough to have any casualties. 

General Crittenden, the confederate commander, 
in his report gives his order of march, naming in 
his column of attack eight regiments, three battal- 
ions and two batteries. All his regiments were 
engaged in the battle and lost heavily on the field, 
according to his official report and casualty list. 

From a point midway between Thomas' head- 
quarters and Logan's farm, where the Columbia- 
Somerset road runs nearly east and west, a road 
led in a southwesterly direction to the Cumberland 
river, passing about half a mile south of head- 
quarters, and is called the Jamestown road. 
Another road led from Logan's farm southward to 
Beech Grove and Mill Springs, and is called the 
Mill Springs road in the reports. The battlefield 
of the 19th was on both sides of this road, and 
from half a mile to a mile south from the cross- 
roads or junction at Logan's house. The ground 
was undulating and mostly covered with thick 
woods and brush, with some small open fields en- 
closed by the usual rail fences of the country. 

About five o'clock in the afternoon of the 18th, 
Company "A" went out on the Jamestown road 
and assumed the "Grand guard" duty, posting 
our reserve about half a mile south of our camp, 



38 Thk Story of the Second Regiment. 

with an advance post eighty rods further out and 
with a Hne of pickets thence extending to the right 
and to the left and connecting in the last direction 
with those of the East Tennessee, and they with 
those of the 10 th Indiana, which in a similar manner 
guarded the Mill Springs road, their reserve post 
being perhaps a mile east of ours across the fields. 

We had hardly got into place when darkness 
and rain were upon us ; the darkest night and the 
coldest and most pitiless and persistent rain we 
ever knew. It was with great difficulty that the 
pickets could be visited or relieved at all during 
the night, and the cooking of supper or even 
of coffee was, in the absence of shelter, out of 
the question. Nothing happened to break the tedi- 
ous monotony of the night, but it has often since 
occurred to us, that if we had known that Critten- 
den's forces had at midnight turned out of their 
comfortable tents and dry blankets and for the 
next six weary hours were sloshing along in the 
mud and storm and darkness, we could have much 
enjoyed the contemplation of their physical and 
spiritual condition. It was always some comfort 
to the soldier on such a night as this, to think 
that his enem}' over there, was at least as wet 
and cold and wretched as he was himself. 

Just at daybreak arms were taken and prep- 
arations were being made to relieve the pickets, when 
a musket shot, another, and then five or six more 
in quick succession rang out with startling distinct- 
ness over on the Mill Springs road, a mile or more 
to our left and front. This was the first rebel shot 
we had ever heard. At last the enemv! now we 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 39 

were going to have a battle. Our first thought was, 
"they are making a feint on that road while they 
come in force on ours," which was the widest 
and best traveled one. Every man was keenly 
awake and alive with expectation, ^vhen again 
on the Mill Springs road the firing broke out, 
nearer than before, scattering at first, then thicker 
and faster as the enemy's advance struck the 
picket reserve. After a few minutes all was 
still again at the front, but in the camps behind 
us the long-roll was beating and the companies 
were forming in hot haste, and presently we heard 
our regiment and the 9th Ohio moving off towards 
Logan's farm. 

Then the firing broke out again as the enemy 
came up to the 10th Indiana and later on to the 4th 
Kentucky, those regiments having hastily got into 
position in the woods about half a mile in front of 
their camp. Here the enemy w^ere held for some 
time and were compelled to bring up and deploy 
their two brigades for an attack in full force. In 
the meantime the 2nd Minnesota and 9th Ohio 
arrived, (nine companies of each,) and in good order 
were put into the fight under General Thomas' 
personal direction, the 2nd taking the line first 
occupied successively by the 10th and 4th, which 
regiments were retired to replenish their ammuni- 
tion, and the 9th Ohio forming on its right; the 
Mill Springs road dividing the t\vo newly arrived 
regiments. 

The new line was immediately advanced some 
distance through the woods, guiding on the road. 
The rain had now ceased but the air was loaded 



40 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

with mist and smoke, and the underbrush in our 
part of the field was so thick that a man was 
hardly visible a musket's length away. Suddenly 
the 2nd's line came against a rail fence with an 
open field in front and a line of the enemy's troops 
were dimly seen through the mist some twenty or 
thirt\^ rods distant in the field. The firing com- 
menced immediately and in a few minutes the 
enemy's line, just mentioned, had disappeared. 
It was in fact his second line, the first being liter- 
ally under the guns and noses of the 2nd regiment, 
only the fence intervening. The sudden arrival of 
the 2nd at this fence was a surprise to the rebel 
20th Tennessee, which veas already just arrived 
there, and it was a surprise also to our boys to 
discover, in the heat of the engagement, that the 
opposite side of the fence was lined with recumbent 
rebels. Here, as Col. R. L. McCook says in his 
ofiicial report, "the contest was at first almost 
hand-to-hand ; the enemy and the 2nd Minnesota 
were poking their guns through the same fence." 
This condition of things could not and did not 
last long after our boys really discovered and got 
after them ; many of the enemy were killed and 
wounded there, but more after they got up and 
were trying to get awa3\ Some remained and 
surrendered. One lieutenant, as the firing ceased 
and the smoke lifted, stood a few feet in front of 
Company "I" of the 2nd and calmly faced his fate. 
His men had disappeared and he was called on to 
surrender. He made no reply but raising his revol- 
ver fired into our ranks with deliberate aim, shoot- 
ing Lieut. Stout through the bod\^ Further parley 



The Mill Sprlngs Campaign. 41 

was useless and he was shot dead where he stood. 
He was young Bailie Peyton, the son of a noble 
sire, whose sword, presented by the citizens of New 
Orleans for his gallant service in the Mexican war, 
was here found on the dead body of his son. We 
met his father later at his home near Gallatin, 
Tennessee. He was one of the foremost Union men 
of his state and it was an inexpressible grief to 
him that his only son should have enlisted in the 
Rebel cause. He said that his only comfort was, 
in the reflection that he did not die as a cow^ard. 

The enemy in front of the 9th Ohio, sheltered by 
some buildings and fences, obstinately maintained 
their position and a bayonet charge, in which part 
of the 2nd joined, was finally ordered and made and 
this finished the fight. 

In the meantime, at our post on the Jamestown 
road, we listened to the battle in a state of excite- 
ment W'hich T cannot attempt to describe. 

As the regiments moved out of camp towards 
the field, and the heavier volleys seemed to settle 
the question that it was to be a battle over there 
and not a feint, we (of Company A) had about 
decided to abandon our post and join the regiment, 
when the Lieut. Colonel commanding the Engineer 
battalion rode up and said General Thomas had 
left him in charge of all guards and picket details, 
and ordered us to stack arms and remain where 
we were. His battalion came out a few minutes 
later and halted near us. We begged him to 
relieve us, but entreaty or argument availed nothing 
with him until the final conflict, just described, had 
fairly opened with a volley of musketry more 



42 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

terrible than before, and so long continued as to 
leave no possible doubt. Then he conceded that 
we were no longer needed at our post, and con- 
sented that we should go to the field with the 
reserve only, leaving all the men out on the picket 
line and advance post. So we started on a run 
across the plowed fields in a direct line for the 
battle. As we approached the woods we were 
obliged to deflect somewhat to the left to find an 
open way, and finally got into the Mill Springs road 
about a quarter of a mile north of the battle- 
ground, just as the final charge was made. The 
yelling of the charging regiments was, if possible, 
more stimulating to us than the musketry had 
been, but, in fact, we were nearly exhausted 
physically when we turned southward in the 
narrow winding road towards the field of battle. 
Now we met the stragglers and skulkers and the 
\vounded. On the first stretcher was the body of 
Lieut Stout, and one of the bearers was that 
courtly gentleman and honored citizen, Mr. Charles 
Scheffer, of St. Paul. He was then State Treasurer, 
and had on the previous day taken from our regi- 
ment the allotments of pay then authorized to be 
paid to families or dependents at home. He had 
gone otit to the battle with the regiment and had 
found this opportunity to render kind service to 
the wounded men. As we approached the fighting 
ground the trees were flecked with bullets and the 
underbrush had been cut away as with a scythe, 
the dead and wounded lay along the fence, on one 
the blue, on the other the gray ; further on the 
enemy's dead v^ere everywhere scattered across the 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 43 

open field, and lav in a windrow along the ridge 
w^here the second line had stood. We halted a 
moment where the body of General Zollicofier lay 
beside the Avagon track. He had been shot through 
the heart by Colonel Fry, of the 4tli Kentucky, 
early in the battle. The two officers, each with an 
aid, had met in the narrow winding roadwa}' as 
they were respectively getting their troops into 
position in the woods on each side of it. All wore 
waterproof coats or ponchos, and at first did not 
recognize each other as enemies. As soon as they 
did, revolvers were drawn ; Zollicoflfer's aid fired at 
Col. Fr\' and got out of the way, leaving his chief 
to fall by the return he had invited. The body had 
been dragged out of the way of passing artiller}' 
and wagons, and lay b}^ the fence, the face up- 
turned to the sky and bespattered with mud from 
the feet of marching men and horses. It was decently 
cared for later, and, with that of Lieut. Bailie 
Peyton, was sent through the lines to Nashville 
for interment. We soon found our regiment and 
joined it. The battle was over, and the mob of 
demoralized fugitives in the distance were rapidh^ 
getting out of sight. 

Col. Van Cleve sent a messenger to relieve and 
bring up our men left on the picket line, and, as 
the advance was being resumed, gave us the lead. 
The pursuit was, however, tedious and uneventful. 
Occasionally a few shots were exchanged with the 
enemy's rear guard, and some exhausted or wounded 
stragglers captured were all we had to enliven the 
chase until we approached Moulden's hill, a high 
ridge within a mile of and commanding the 



44 The Stoky of the Second Re;giment. 

intrenched camp at Beech Grove. Here a show of 
resistance was made, and General Thomas halted 
and developed his forces in order of attack. The 
advance tip the easy slope of the hill was an 
inspiring spectacle to us, but the enemy did not 
remain to enjoy it. When our skirmish line reached 
the crest of the ridge their rear guard was seen in 
full retreat again, and soon disappeared within 
their camp. Our batteries were brought up, and 
one of them, posted on the left near the river, 
practised a while with shell on a little steamer 
crossing and recrossing the stream at a point 
below the camp, provoking a reply from the 
enemy's guns which, however, did us no harm. 

The sun was yet an hour high and, as it after- 
wards appeared, an immediate advance upon the 
camp would have met with no formidable organized 
resistance, though it was well protected by breast- 
works, abbattis and entanglements. Some val- 
uable lives w^ould, however, have been lost in an 
assault at that time, and probably most of the 
enem^^ would have escaped, as they afterwards 
did, by dispersion, but without immediately cross- 
ing the river. The truth, not then known, but 
generally suspected, was that the demoralized 
rebels were crossing the Cumberland as fast as they 
could, and most of the men got over before morning. 

After a brief survey' of the situation as far as it 
was then to be seen. General Thomas bivouacked 
his troops in line of battle where they were first 
halted ; and during the evening the other regiments 
of his command which had not been in the battle, 
came up, except the 18th regulars. The night was 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 45 

clear and cold, and the men of Company "A" had 
had no food or rest during the thirty hours past, 
and none of the regiments had eaten during the 
day. The exposure to the storm during the night, 
the excitement and physical exhaustion of the 
morning's wild race across the soft ploughed held, 
of the battle and the day's tramp, began to tell. 

Rations had been spoiled in the haversacks b}^ 
the rain, or left behind in the morning, and not 
until nine or ten o'clock in the evening, when the 
trains came up, was anything procurable to eat. 

That night's exposure broke down many strong- 
men in our regiment who never recovered for dutv. 

Next morning our regiment marched into the 
camp of the 20th Tennessee, within the intrench- 
ments, and filed off into the company streets just 
as we would have done in our own. Apparently 
the 20th men had not visited their tents at all 
since they had left them at midnight to attack us ; 
provisions, clothing, blankets and all the comforts 
that accumulate about a soldier during a month 
in camp, were here in profusion. All the camps 
were left by the enemy's regiments in like manner, 
the tents standing and officers' baggage and per- 
sonal effects, and supplies of all sorts, in hospitable 
abandonment. All the artillery, except one gun 
left back mired in the mud, was found fully horsed 
and standing in the narrow roadwaj' leading down 
into the valley from the camp; the leading gun 
had locked a wheel on a small tree, and the whole 
train had been then and thea'c abandoned ; more 
than a thousand horses and mules were frolicking 
about the valle\', helping themselves to forage from 



46 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

the unguarded piles. A few wagons hastily loaded 
with baggage were found on the steamboat land- 
ing, awaiting a crossing that was not to be made. 
A few sick, wounded and skulkers were added to 
our list of prisoners, but the army that had a few 
hours before marched out in that midnight storm 
to surprise "old Pap Thomas," was now scattered 
all over the country south of the Cumberland, 
ever}^ man getting away as fast and as far as he 
could. Probabh^ not many of those men were ever 
brought together again as organized regiments ; 
they certainly spread dismay and consternation all 
over the country wherever they went, and probably 
thus contributed much to succeeding Union victories 
in Tennessee. 

The little steamer, which had been for twelve 
hours so busily engaged in crossing the stampeded 
rebels, was set on fire by the last to cross, and 
drifted down the river and out of sight. 

Schoepf's brigade was sent on the 21st across 
the river to pursue the enemy, but there was no 
enemy to pursue and he returned. On the same 
day we returned to our camp at Logan's cross- 
roads, and the 22nd was spent in issuing supplies. 
The dead of both armies were buried on the 20th 
and 21st, and the wounded were cared for as well 
as the circumstances permitted. 

On the 23rd we marched to Somerset, and 
thence southward about two miles. Our trains 
were mired in the road near Fishing Creek, about 
three miles from Logan's, and we spent a miser- 
able night without shelter. On the 24th we en- 
camped in a pleasant field on the north bank of 



The Mill Springs Campaign. 47 

the Cumberland river, where we made ourselves 
comfortable for a few days. Meantime our sick 
and wounded men were distributed in all the 
available buildings in and near Somerset, and in 
these temporary hospitals were cared for as well 
as could be under the circumstances. Man}^ a 
brave fellow who, in anticipation of a battle had 
cheerfulh' endured the hardships of the march, now 
succumbed. The sick largely outnumbered the 
wounded, and our permanent loss from disease 
originating or developed in this campaign was 
more than 15 per cent, of the total force, while 
the killed and wounded was less than TV2 per cent, 
of the troops engaged, and many of the v^ounded 
were only temporarily disabled. Of the campaign 
it might be said that the march \voidd have been 
a severe one even for veterans. 

The battle was on both sides desperately con- 
tested while it lasted, but was soon over, and the 
victory on the field was decisive and complete. 

Among the trophies was a flag of the Fifteenth 
Mississippi, captured by the Second Minnesota, 
and by General Thomas forwarded to the war 
department. [Appendix No. 8.) 

This flag is among those now awaiting the 
direction of Congress and, let it be hoped, of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, as to their final dis- 
position. 

Another trophy that now reposes in the goodly 
company of war worn flags, in the Adjutant Gen- 
eral's ofhce at the capitol of Minnesota, is a hand- 
some banner with the inscription: "Mill Springs, 
"Jan'y 19, 1862. 2nd Keg't Minn. Vol. Inf'y. 



48 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

" Presented in behalf of the Lojal Ladies of Louisville, 
"Ky." This was in commemoration of this battle 
and victory; which redeemed Kentucky to the Union 
of States, not to be seriously or permanently oc- 
cupied by the Confederates again during the war. 

The casualties of the nine companies engaged of 
our regiment were 12 killed and 33 w^ounded. 
In the four regiments (and Wolford's battalion) 
engaged, the Union loss was 40 killed and 207 
wounded. Total casualties 247. The Confederate 
loss was stated by General Crittenden at 126 
killed, 309 wounded and 99 missing, total 534; 
but General Thomas reports the Confederate dead, 
buried b\^ our troops, at 192 and the unwounded 
prisoners at 89, which with the 309 wounded and 
10 missing, not captured, w^ould make the Confed- 
erate loss 600 ; under the circumstances Thomas 
must be conceded to be the better authority as to 
the dead and prisoners. On the other hand, Crit- 
tenden, who could have had no knowledge of the 
Union loss, estimates it at 700, and says "It was 
"larger than mine from the fact that my regiments 
"on the left after having been first driven back fired 
"from the cover of woods and fences upon a large 
"number advancing upon them through an open 
"field, inflicting heavy loss and sustaining but little." 

He had, in fact, more than twice as many men 
engaged as we did, and his loss on the field was to 
ours about in the same proportion ; so if it were 
or were not true that his troops were the better 
sheltered the fire of our men must have been the 
better directed and delivered. (Appendix Nos. 9, 
10, 11 and 12.) 



Mill Sprlmgs to Shiloh. 49 

CHAPTER IV. 
MILL SPRINGS TO SHILOH. 

On the 10th of February, we Iblded our tents 
again and began the return march to Louisville. 
In the afternoon we camped a mile north of Somer- 
set, Adhere we remained the next day and said 
"good-by" to many of our comrades in the hos- 
pitals who were too sick or too badly wounded to 
be moved. Here it rained and snowed alternateh% 
as it did in fact, nearly every day of the march to 
the Ohio river. The roads were almost impassable 
and the companies were ordered each to march 
with its wagon to help it along as it often became 
necessary to do. 

On the 14th we arrived at Crab Orchard where 
we struck the "pike," as macadamized roads are 
always called in that country', and thenceforward 
the march was less tedious, though the weather 
did not much improve. 

On the 15th we passed through Stanford and 
on the 16th arrived at Danville where we rested one 
day while it rained. 

On the 18th made a long march, passing through 
Perryville, halting there only long enough to observe 
the academy with its garrison of bright-eyed 
school-girls, and encamped within two or three 
miles of Lebanon. 

On the 19th we marched all da^- in a drenching 
rain-storm and encamped on the farm of Dr. Jackson, 
a brother of the man who killed Col. Ellsworth at 



50 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Alexandria, Va., in the summer of 1861. The 
doctor was absent under military arrest, but his 
hospitality was freel^^ drawn upon by the tired, 
wet and hungry soldiers, who left nothing there 
next morning that could be drunk, eaten or carried 
aw^ay. 

On the 24th we passed through Bardstown and 
on the 25th arrived at Louisville about 3 p. m., and 
w^ere received with most enthusiastic welcome. The 
sidewalks were ftill of lo3'al men and flags were 
waved to us from windows and porches as we gaily 
marched the principal streets towards the river. 
At the National Hotel the regiment was halted and 
faced to the front while a- deputation of the "Loyal 
Ladies of Louisville," came out and presented the 
beautiful silk banner referred to in a preceding 
chapter. After a brief response by Col. Van Cleve 
our march was resumed and we went on board 
the large steamer "Jacob Strader" at the levee. 

Meantime on the 6th, Fort Henry, and on the 
16th, Fort Donelson, had been captured and the 
way was now open to Nashville b^^ the Ohio and 
Cumberland rivers. 

On the 26tli our baggage, mules and wagons 
were taken aboard at Portland, just below the falls 
and three miles from Louisville levee, and we pro- 
ceeded down the river, very glad of the change from 
marching to sailing. 

On the 28th we arrived at Smithfield, where we 
entered the Cumberland and passed Fort Donelson 
on the 1st of March and Clarksville on the 2nd, 
arriving at Nashville next day. On the 4th we dis- 
embarked and encamped about three miles out of 



Mill Springs to Shiloh. 51 

the city on the "Granny White Pike." Here we had 
a pleasant and healthy camp and fine spring 
weather. Ample supplies of clothing, rations and 
ammunition were issued and accumulated, and a 
good many of our sick and slightly wounded, who 
had been left behind; now joined us for duty. 

Meantime arrangements had been made for a 
junction of Buell's and Halleck's forces to be made 
near the great bend of the Tennessee river ; Savan- 
nah, on the right bank, being finally designated by 
Gen. Halleck as the point. 

On the 16th of March, McCook's division of 
Buell's army commenced the march towards the 
appointed rendezvous, followed in order, one dav 
apart, by those of Nelson, Crittenden, Wood and 
Thomas. Our division (Thomas') having had a 
battle already, was in this new campaign assigned 
to the rear of the column, and marched on the 
20th, passing through the city and out on the 
Franklin pike some eight or ten miles. On the 
21st we passed through Franklin and camped a 
few miles south of the village, remaining there the 
22nd. On the 23rd we moved up two or three 
miles to Spring Hill, and here we found the road 
ahead of us occupied by the camps and trains of 
the preceding divisions. 

The bridge over Duck River at Columbia had 
been destroyed. The river w^as at flood height, 
no pontoons or other bridge material was avail- 
able, and we all waited six days for the water to 
subside. 

On the 29th a bridge was improvised, and a 
ford, deep and rapid, but practicable with care, 



52 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

was found, and the crossing was commenced. It 
was slow and tedious work, and it was not until 
the 2nd of April that ours, the rear division, had 
a clear way to proceed. On the 4th the road 
ahead of us was so obstructed with the trains of 
the other divisions that we remained in camp ; it 
was raining heavily all day and night. 

On this day General Grant telegraphed in reply 
to Nelson's message of the 3rd that he could be at 
Savannah with his division on the 5th, that he 
( Nelson ) need not hasten his march, as transports 
to conve\' him to Pittsburg Landing would not 
be ready before the 8th. (Van Home's History, 
Army of Cumberland, Vol. 1, page 103.) 

The rain ceased on the 5th, and we marched 
about twelve miles, keeping close up to the column 
leading us. Next day, the 6th, the troops ahead 
of us seemed to be showing more speed, and we 
began to pass the wagon trains as we overtook 
them, instead of keeping behind them as we had 
been doing; so, notwithstanding the bad condition 
of the roads and frequent detours to pass around 
the stalled wagon trains, we marched twenty-two 
miles before dark. During the afternoon, whenever 
we halted to rest, we could hear the rumbling of 
the cannonade in the distant west, and we knew 
that a great battle was in progress. About sunset 
it commenced to rain again, and speedily grew so 
dark that a man in the column could scarcely see 
his file leader within arm's reach. Still we tramped 
on, tired, cold, wet and hungry, until about eleven 
o'clock, when our brigade v^as turned into a soft 
plowed cotton field, to spend the rest of the night. 



Mill vSprings to Shiloh. 53 

The situation here would have been utterl}^ forlorn 
had it not been enlivened by the order at midnight 
to "cook three daj^s' rations and be ready to 
march at 4 o'clock a. m." As it rained all night, 
the fence rails were laid in the mud for bedding or 
"standing room"; no other fuel was available, 
and the rations were in the wagons, miles behind 
us. So the cooking was omitted, but we were 
ready and glad to inarch at daybreak. 

The halts on the 7th were few and short, but 
our progress, in the wretched condition of the 
road, was slow and tedious, though we matched 
towards the sound of the guns all day. We 
arrived at Savannah in the fdternoon of the 8tli, 
to spend another night in the rain without shelter, 
but had time before dark to select a grass field 
for our bivouac and get rails and other firewood 
to cook and sleep by. Here we heard that the 
field of Shiloh had been won and was held by our 
Union forces, so we rested contentedly. Next morn- 
ing, April 9th, steamers came to Savannah for us, 
and embarking, we were taken up to Pittsburg 
Landing, and at noon stacked arms and rested on 
the battle field. The weather had cleared up, and 
though our wagons and tents did not arrive for 
several days, we were comfortable enough without 
them. The burial of the dead and collection of the 
wounded no\v fully occupied a large portion of our 
men for two or three days. 

The official reports state the Union loss at 1,754 
killed, 8,408 wounded and 2,885 captured or miss- 
ing; and the Confederate loss at 1,728 killed, 
8,012 wounded and 959 missing. Of the missing 



54r The Story of the Second Regiment. 

many were undoubtedly killed or wounded ; so we 
had to perform the burial of about 4,000 men, 
gathering them from every part of the battle field. 
Some lay where they had first fallen, others lived 
long enough to crawl to some near-by thicket or 
gully, for protection or for v^ater; some lay in 
attitudes of rest, their faces showing nothing of 
suffering or fear, others had evidently died in great 
agony. Some were identified by comrades, and of 
such the graves were rudely marked ; but many of 
our dead and nearly all the Confederates were un- 
known and unrecognized. They were laid side by 
side in long shallow pits and were covered, a 
hundred or more, in one grave. Many of the 
wounded had been able to find their own w^ay to 
the field hospitals, but several thousand of them 
were taken up on the field and carried off on 
stretchers or in ambulances. Some of these were 
not found until two or three days after the battle. 

All of this was very sad business; none who 
participated in it or v^itnessed it, will ever forget it. 

Men can, in the enthusiasm and excitement of 
battle, vsee and take part in the murderous work 
without realizing how horrible it is, but to go over 
the field the day afterwards, and in cool blood to 
gather up the mangled and suffering victims, gives 
one a life-long impression of the cruelty of war 
and of its pitiful waste of human life. 

After two or three days of this we moved out 
from the battle field towards Corinth five or six 
miles, and when our trains arrived established our- 
selves in camp again, in a pleasant gravelly field 
with shade and spring water. 



Mill Spklngs to Shiloh. 55 

Here Col. Van Cleve was promoted to Brigj^idier 
General and mustered out of the regiment, Lieut. 
Col. George was promoted to Colonel, Maj. Wilkin 
to Lieutenant Colonel and Capt. Bishop to Major; 
all their commissions dated March 21st, 1862. 

Gen. Thomas having been assigned to command 
a corps of several divisions. Brig. Gen. T. W. 
Sherman assumed command vice Thomas of our 
division, and Lieut. Col. Wilkin was detailed as 
Inspector General at his headquarters. He was on 
detached service thereafter most of the time until 
he was mustered out of the regiment August 26th, 
1862, to become Colonel of the 9th Minnesota 
volunteers. 

At this camp our band was mustered out on the 
24th of April, b\' order of Gen. Buell, and the men 
went home leaving most of their instruments there 
in the woods. The band had been an agreeable 
and much appreciated institution in our permanent 
camps, but in the hard marches of a long campaign 
the members got scattered and lost, and of late we 
had had but little music from them. They were 
good muvsicians, but did not take kindly to actual 
soldiering, and were no doubt quite willing to quit 
there. 

Gen. Halleck arrived at Shiloh on the 11th of 
April, and after reorganizing the two armies of Buell 
and Grant and reinforcing them by the army of the 
Mississippi, under Pope, and b\' a division from 
Missouri and one from Arkansas, commenced the 
"seige of Corinth." A general advance and intrench- 
ment of the Union lines about once a week, with 
almost daily skirmishing during the intervals, 



56 TnH Stokv of the Second Regiment. 

brought UvS at the end of May into such position 
that Corinth had to be defended or evacuated. A 
volley of explosions and a dense cloud of smoke 
in our fi-ont at daybreak on the 30th announced the 
final departure of the Confederate army, which 
w^ith persistence and impudence to be admired had 
held our greatly superior force at bay for nearly two 
months. Our lines were immediately advanced, but 
in places met with vigorous resistance from the 
enemy's picket line, which had been left in position. 
These men were mostly captured and were im- 
mensely disgusted to learn that they had been 
abandoned to such a fate. This narrative is not the 
place to criticize general operations of armies, but 
it may truthfully and properly be said, that we 
marched into the vacated and desolate streets of 
Corinth that day with a feeling of disgust and 
humiliation at the escape of the enemy that we 
ought to have captured, or at least have broken 
up and defeated. 

A show of pursuit had to be made, and we 
marched on after the retreating enemy for several 
days, passing through Danville and Rienzi. On the 
6th our regiment "corduroyed" about four miles 
of swampy road, by transferring the rail fences 
from both sides to the centre of the track, where 
they were speedily sunk out of sight by the artil- 
lery and heavily loaded supply wagons. 

On the 8th we halted at Boonville, Miss., where 
we remained three days. Returning we reached 
our old camp near Corinth on the 13th, having 
been out 14 days without tents or baggage, and 
so far as we could see had accomplished nothing. 



Corinth to Loiisvii.le. 57 

Next day w^e moved three miles east from 
Corinth, where we got several days rest, on fresh 
clean ground. Some reorganization had been going 
on, however, in our absence, and we found Gen. 
Thomas in command again of our division, and 
preparations were soon completed for a new cam- 
paign. 



CHAPTER V. 
CORINTH TO LOUISVILLE. 

Buell's army had been projected eastward, with 
Chattanooga and East Tennessee as the apparent 
objectives, and the divisions of McCook, Crittenden 
and Nelson were alread\' well advanced in that 
direction, when, on the 22nd of June, our brigade 
broke camp and commenced the march along the 
Memphis and Charleston railroad, repairing it as 
we went along, reaching luka Springs on the 25th. 
The other two brigades of our division were 
several days' march in advance of us, and, as we 
moved eastward, troops from Grant's armj-^ fol- 
lowed, and were stationed in detachments to 
guard the railroad bridges left behind us. 

At luka we were paid off for two months, 
chiefly in the then new postal currency', which we 
had not before seen. Col. George here left us on 
"sick leave." 

On the 27th our march eastward was resumed, 
and our regiment arrived on the 29th at Tuscum- 
bia, Aki. We encamped in an open field, just at 



58 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

the edge of the village, and near a remarkably 
copious spring of pure water. Here Gen. Thomas' 
division was assembled again, and on the 4th of 
July we had a national salute from the three bat- 
teries and a grand parade of twelve regiments, 
after which some appropriate and patriotic ad- 
dresses were made by Gov. Alex. Ramsey, of Min- 
nesota, Gens. Steedman and McCook, and perhaps 
others. 

Gov. Ramsey's visit at this time and place, 
though brief, gave him opportunity to see and 
compare the 2nd Minnesota regiment with those 
from other states, and he was, as he said, quite 
satisfied with our representation of the state. 

Finding ourselves located here for some consid- 
erable time, our camp was put in good order and 
made comfortable, and the usual course of company 
and battalion drill and instruction was instituted. 
The '* company musicians," who in presence of the 
"band" had been quite overlooked, if not forgot- 
ten, were now hunted up and investigated. Those 
who were not in fact musicians were exchanged in 
their companies for other men who were, or could 
become such; a "principal musician" was appoint- 
ed, bugles and fifes and drums were supplied to 
them, and the same discipline applied to them that 
prevailed with the other men of the regiment. A 
few weeks of faithful instruction and practice made 
them quite proficient in martial music, and the 
"bugle band" of the 2nd Minnesota received a 
good deal of attention and commendation from 
the other regiments, and was much appreciated by 
our own men. 



Corinth td Louisville. 59 

On the 26th of July our pleasant camp here was 
broken up, and we crossed the Tennessee river to 
Florence. We were told that Gen. Andrew Jackson 
had crossed the river here just fifty years before, 
on his way to New Orleans, in 1812. The next 
day being Sunday, the usual inspection of troops 
was had, and this over, a good many officers and 
enlisted men of the several regiments availed them- 
selves of the opportunity to attend divine service. 
The Presb\^terian church was well filled, the usual 
congregation of resident w^omen and children oc- 
cupying perhaps one third of the seats. The 
uniformed visitors were courteously received and 
ushered in, mingling with the regular attendants 
wherever there might be room. The opening 
services were of the usual character, and the sing- 
ing was heartily joined in by the soldiers; the 
scripture readings were attentively listened to, and 
all heads were reverently bowed when the vener- 
able minister said "let us pray." The prayer, we 
were afterwards told, was the formal one prescribed 
by the Presbyterian church authority of the South, 
and contained an invocation of the divine blessing 
upon the "President of the Confederate States and 
"upon all in authority under him," and upon the 
armies of the Confederate States, and a direct and 
earnest appeal that confusion and defeat might 
overwhelm their enemies, who had invaded their 
soil and threatened their institutions and their 
liberties. This had not been generally expected by 
the visitors, and it produced at the instant quite 
an appreciable commotion. A variety of ejacula- 
tions, not in the usual line of liturgical responses, 



60 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

were heard in various parts of the house, and some 
got up and walked out to vent their indignation 
in the open air. Most of us remained, however, 
to see the services through. The prayer ended, the 
sermon began; a simple, earnest, well composed 
and w^ell delivered discourse, interesting, edifying 
and every way unexceptional. The preacher was 
himself the personification of christian grace and 
dignity in the pulpit, and we were soon in the 
mood to ignore, if we could not forgive or forget, 
the offensive prayer. He had probably half com- 
pleted his discourse when the tramp of marching 
men was heard coming down the main aisle, and 
a squad of the provost guard "halted" and 
"fronted" at the altar before the minister. A 
colonel of infantry led the detachment, and now 
he interrupted the preacher, charged him with 
insulting the uniform of the United States and 
thovse who wore it, in addressing a disloyal peti- 
tion to the Almighty in their presence, and 
commanded him to come down and surrender to 
arrest. The minister gracefully bowed in compli- 
ance, and, closing his sermon book, came down 
and said he was "at your service, sir." Now the 
ladies interposed, some with tears and pleadings, 
and some with sneers and taunts at the imposing 
show of armed men in a peaceful church where 
only women and children were present to protest, 
and some fainted, while the colonel marched his 
guard and prisoner out and to headquarters. The 
women then appealed to those of us w^ho remained. 
They were assured that their pastor was not led 
out to be shot, and that probably no physical 



Corinth to Louisville. 61 

harm would be done to him, and as soon as we 
could without rudeness, w^e withdrew to discuss in 
our camp the experiences and events of the morn- 
ing. The propriety of the arrest, under the circum- 
stances, was theij hotly debated among those who 
were present, and the disctission has been renewed 
at ever}^ opportunity since. It still remains as one 
of the questions left unsettled at the close of the 
war. The prisoner was sent North under arrest, 
but what charges were formally preferred, or what, 
if any, trial or punishment he may have had, was 
never known to us. 

On Tuesda}^, the 29th of July, we marched again 
eastward ; the weather was hot and the road 
dusty, but there seemed to be no urgent haste, 
and our progress was leisurely and comfortable. 
The great fields, erewhile in cotton, were now all 
in corn, and afforded plenty of roasting ears for 
the soldiers and forage for the mules. The darkies 
came in troops from every plantation as we passed, 
and joined the "Lincum Sogers," bringing horses, 
mules, cattle, pigs, poultry, bedding and everything 
else they could carry. They had apparently just 
begun to realize what the war meant to them, 
and were quite ready to improve the opportunity^ 
of going out from bondage, and of despoiling their 
old masters as they went. 

As we approached Athens we got a mail from 
the North, and in it some one received a copy of the 
song, then just published, entitled, "Kingdom 
Comin'." Adjt. S. P. Jennison sang it in camp 
that evening in his unctious and inimitable style, 
while the men of the regiment joined in as they 



62 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

learned the chorus, and a crowd of black faces 
grinning with delight surrounded them, taking in 
the spirit of the words and music, so appropriate 
to the situation at the time. In a day or two 
everybody knew and was singing it, and the 
darkies would have a circus over it ever}^ evening, 
keeping the song going with original and grotesque 
variations until they were suppressed by the camp 
guard at "taps." 

On the 3rd of August we marched through 
Athens, Tenn. This was a lovely village, and had 
been noted for being the last place in the state to 
haul down the Union flag. The inhabitants, how- 
ever, had been disgracefully plundered by Turchin's 
brigade of Union soldiers a short time before our 
arrival, and they regarded our approach with 
some apprehension, probably; for which they were 
to be excused. They were not in any way molested 
or inconvenienced by our presence, except from the 
desertion of those servants who had not already 
left them. 

On Monday, the 5th, our brigade commander. 
Gen. Robert L. McCook, was murdered by a gang of 
guerillas. He was sick when he left Tuscumbia, and 
during the whole march was unable to sit up or be 
dressed. He had a bed made in an ambulance, in 
which it was his custom to ride far enough in ad- 
vance of the troops to avoid the dust which always 
enveloped the marching column. On this day the 
road was narrow and sinuous, with a thick growth 
of small trees on each side. His ambulance, at- 
tended by two or three staif officers, was perhaps 
half a mile ahead of the column, in which the 35th 



Corinth to Louisville. 63 

Ohio was the leading regiment. Suddenly a party 
of horsemen appeared in the road before him, 
and the ambulance was immediately turned and 
started back on the run. The partj^ pursued 
with yells and firing of revolvers, and, riding up 
on each side, shot him through the body. The 
horses were frightened and beyond the control of 
the driver, who said the General had ordered him 
to stop before the fatal shot was fired. The team 
was forced into the thicket and the staff officers, 
Capts. Brooke and Miller, were captured and 
hurried away. The head of the column soon 
arrived, and the General w^as taken to the nearest 
house, while the brigade encamped around him. 
We had no cavalry, and the guerillas could not be 
overtaken. The men of the 9th Ohio (McCook's 
own regiment) were wild with rage, and in revenge 
burned every building in the neighborhood, presum- 
ing that the murderers were residents of the vicin- 
ity, as they probably w^ere. 

The General died next day and the march was 
at once resumed. Col. Ferdinand Van Derveer 
assumed command of the brigade, which he very 
ably administered until the expiration of his term 
of service, about two years later. 

On the 7th of August we arrived at Winchester, 
Tenn., where we remained twelve days. 

About this time Company "C," of the 3rd Min- 
nesota regiment, commanded by Capt. Mills, was 
attached to the 2nd regiment. This company was 
on detached duty when its regiment was surrend- 
ered at Murfreesboro, July 13, 1862, and pending- 
the exchange and return of their comrades was sent 



64 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

to us for duty. It was a fine companj of soldiers, 
and remained with us several weeks, leaving us at 
Louisville on the 30th of September, for Minnesota. 

On the 19th of August we moved from Win- 
chester to Decherd, and thence by short marches 
and intermediate halts of one to three days to 
Pelham Gap, thus consuming the time to August 
31st, while Bragg's arm}' were making their way 
across the mountains and around our left flank 
tow^ards Nashville. 

During these days we got news of the Indian 
outbreak and massacre in Minnesota, which cre- 
ated much apprehension and excitement, as many of 
our men had families and friends in the threatened 
frontier counties. Lieut. Col. Alex. Wilkin was on 
the 26th of August appointed Colonel of the 9th 
Minnesota regiment, and Maj. J. W. Bishop was 
commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, and Capt. J. B. 
Davis, of Company "F," Major of the 2nd Minne- 
sota from the same date. Adjt. S. P. Jennison, 
about the same time, was appointed Lieutenant 
Colonel of the 10th Minnesota regiment, and Lieut. 
Charles F. Meyer took the vacated place as Adju- 
tant of the 2nd. 

On the 1st of September we marched to Man- 
chester, and our wagon trains with tents and bag- 
gage having been sent via Murfreesboro to Nash- 
ville, we encamped for the night in the fair-ground 
buildings. Next day resumed the march towards 
Murfreesboro, arriving there on the 4-th. On the 
3rd we encamped early in the day and sent details 
into a large melon field near by, who captured 



Corinth to Louisville. 65 

several hundred large, line, luscious watermelons 
which, after our hot and dusty march, were much 
relished. 

Pursuing our northward march we arrived at 
Nashville on the 7th and encamped in the edge of 
the city. Most of our army had already crossed 
the Cumberland, but it was given out that our 
brigade should remain at Nashville, and we did for 
a week, while our divisions north of the I'iver were 
watching Bragg's movements. By the 14tli his 
army was all across the Cumberland, at points 
higher up the river and further north than Nash- 
ville, and the race for Louisville began. Our brigade 
left Nashville on the 14th and crossing the river 
encamped just north of Edgefield. We had received 
five days rations of flour, coffee and sugar only, no 
clothing or shoes, which were especially needed. In 
the next three da\'^s we marched on the hard, dusty 
pike sevent}^ miles to Bowling Green. Here, on the 
18th, more rations of flour were issued, and we 
crossed the Barren river, in which we found the first 
supply of drinkable water since leaving the Cum- 
berland. On the 19th we marched twenty-five miles, 
and on the 20th overtook our other divisions, 
and passing through their camps, came up to 
the enem\^'s rear picket line near Cave City. 
Here we extended our line of battle to right 
and left, and posted our ])ickct line confront- 
ing theirs. This was the seventh day of the march 
which was without a parallel in our experience 
thus far. It was the dry season of the year, and in 
this part of Kentuck}^ there was no living water, 
except the Barren river, l)etween the Green and 



66 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Cumberland rivers. The farmers had depended for 
a scanty supply on the "sink-holes," which were 
saucer-like depressions in the fields, with clay sub- 
soil bottoms, which filled with water in winter and 
spring, but at this season were nearly exhausted by 
evaporation. Then Bragg's army was ahead of us, 
and they made it their business to enrich the already 
viscid water with dead mules and camp offal of all 
sorts, so it could not be drunk and could hardly be 
used even to mix our "dough gods." These w^ere 
made by moistening our flour on a rock with water, 
and after pounding it into a tough dough, it was 
spun into a long roll, about an inch in diameter, 
and wound spirally around a ramrod and so baked 
at the camp fire. These, with scanty rations of 
bacon, constituted a decidedly thin diet for the hard 
service required of us. We had no tents or cook- 
ing utensils or baggage of any sort except such as 
were carried on pack mules or on the men's backs, 
and even these had become sadly deficient, as we 
had not been able to get any supplies at Nashville. 
Occasionally we got apples or peaches along the 
road, but generally the trees were cleaned by the 
troops ahead of us. 

On this occasion, however, we found in our 
immediate front a big apple orchard, the trees all 
loaded with juicy fruit. The enemy's picket line 
was along the fence, on the further side, and their 
camps not far beyond. Our picket line was estab- 
lished along the fence on our side of the orchard, 
which was perhaps eighty rods across. Our men 
began to get over the fence and gather the apples, 
and the enemy's pickets fired at them; our pickets 



Corinth to Louisville. 67 

in turn would not let the thirsty rebels get any 
apples out of their side of the orchard. The situa- 
tion speedily became known in the camps, and our 
picket line was in a few minutes reinforced by 
several hundred of the boys, who "straggled" out 
there with their guns, and presently our line was 
advanced with a rush to the further side of the 
orchard. The enemy's pickets resisted actively, but 
retired just before our line reached them. They 
made an effort to regain their fence, but our boys 
wouldn't give it up. The advance troops in both 
armies got under arms upon hearing the racket, 
but the affair was probabl}^ reported to the gen- 
erals as a "picket skirmish" of no conseqtience, 
and all became quiet again, and our boys had the 
run of the orchard that night. Several of the men 
were wounded, but none killed, in the skirmish, 
which was entirely an affair of the enlisted men. 
It looked at one time, however, as though a 
general fight might grow out of it right there and 
then, and we were all more than willing to have 
it so. 

This evening we got orders to cook three days' 
rations and prepare for a battle which would 
probably take place on the next day. 

The enemy, however, moved on early next 
morning, and the foot race began again. Our 
division remained in camp while the others passed 
on and took the road ahead of us. On the 22nd 
we moved camp about two miles to a place near 
Cave City, where, at the bottom of a natural 
rocky pit, fibout a hundred feet deep, an under- 
ground stream of ])ure water came to the light. 



68 The Story of thk Second Regiment. 

A steep path and steps led down to it, and all day 
it was alive with soldiers, each laden w^ith as 
many canteens as he could carry. The boys spent 
the day mainl}- in filling up like camels with that 
water, in preparation for resuming the march. 

On the 23rd we started again, crossing Green 
river about noon, and camped on Bacon's Creek 
after a march of twenty miles. On the 24th we 
started at daybreak and marched fast all day, 
making thirty miles, and halted for the night four 
or five miles north of Elizabethtown. 

The race was now telling on the footsore rebels, 
also, and during that and the previous day we 
passed their exhausted stragglers to the number of 
several hundred, leaving them to be gathered up 
as prisoners by our rear guard. Bragg's arm}^ 
was, however, ahead of us, and within one or 
two days' march of Louisville. Next day we left 
the railroad and parallel pike and went straight 
to the Ohio river, at the mouth of the Salt river, 
making the twenty miles in less than seven hours, 
and reaching the river bank about noon, a tired, 
hungry, ragged, foot-sore crowd. "Thank God for 
the Ohio river and hard tack!" exclaimed the 
champion grumbler of the regiment, "I'll never 
complain again." Here were steamers loaded with 
rations, clothing and shoes, and waiting to carry 
us to Louisville, about thirty miles up the river. 
With little ceremony the boxes of hard bread and 
bacon were rolled ashore and broken open, and, 
wdiile the steamers were being loaded and depart- 
ing with other troops, our brigade rested and re- 
freshed and^vaited our time. Next day we embarked 



The Perryyille Campaign. 69 

also, and soon after noon were at Louisville, 
where we found most of Buell's army en- 
camped around and in defence of the city. The 
next four days w^ere occupied in resupplying the 
troops with clothing, rations, ammunition and 
equipment, in preparation for a new and offensive 
campaign for the recover}^ and reoccupation of 
Kentucky and Tennessee. 

During this time orders came from the vYar 
department relieving Gen. Buell, and assigning the 
command to Gen. Thomas; these orders were sus- 
pended by request of Gen. Thomas, and were never 
put into effect. 



CHAPTER VL 
THE PERRYYILLE CAMPAIGN. 

While in Louisville, in the last week in September, 
some important changes and events took place in 
the organization of Buell's army. 

Gen. William Nelson, who had been one of the 
most efficient division commanders, was killed on 
the 29th at the Gait House, by Gen. Jefferson C. 
Davis, in a personal quarrel. The army was the 
same day reorganized into three corps; the first 
commanded by Gen. A. D. McCook, consisting of 
the divisions of Rousseau, Sill and Jackson ; the 
second corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Crittenden, 
was composed of the divisions of Wood, Yan Cleve 
and Smith ; and the third corps contained the divi- 
sions of Schoepf, Sheridan and Mitchell. To the 



70 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

commaiicl of this corps Gen. Buell assigned "Maj. 
Gen. C. C. Gilbert," by orders of September 29th. 
Gilbert was a Captain in the 1st United States 
infantry, who had been "appointed a Major General 
of volunteers, subject to the approval of the Presi- 
dent," by Gen. Wright, and by him "assigned to the 
command of the army of Kentucky." This appoint- 
ment, it appears, was never approved by the 
President, though a commission as Brigadier Gen- 
eral was issued to him on the 25th of September. 

Gen. Buell, supposing him to be in fact a Major 
General, thus placed him in command of the corps 
over three division commanders and two of the 
brigade cominanders who were actually his seniors 
in rank. Gilbert in turn, it is said, assigned Capt. 
Gay of his staff to the command of the brigade 
of cavalr};-, as "Chief of Cavalry," over several 
colonels and field officers senior to him. 

These unauthorized honors were not very 
modestly borne by the officers so distinguished, and 
within the three weeks of the following campaign, a 
very general protest against them was developed 
throughout the corps and among the men of every 
grade in the service. Gen. Buell was held respon- 
sible for them and so shared the censure. 

Matters were getting decidedly unpleasant all 
around, when on the 23rd of October "Brig. Gen. 
C. C. Gilbert" was suddenly relieved by Gen. Buell 
from the command of the third corps and assigned to 
the tenth division, and on the next day Gen. Buell 
himself was, by orders from Washington, relieved 
from the command of the arm^^ and department. 



The Perryville Campaign. 71 

and Maj. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans was assigned to it, 
the actual transfer taking place on the 30th. 

On the first of October our army, rested, reclothed 
and resupplied, moved out to find and fight the 
enemy now confronting our lines about Louisville. 
He retired as we advanced, and passing consecutively 
through Shepardsville, Bardstown and Fredricks- 
burg, w^e overtook his rear guard near Springfield, 
on the morning of the 6th, and our regiment being 
at the head of our column, we had a continual 
skirmish all day, both armies moving about seven- 
teen miles towards Perr3^ville, where was a small 
stream known as Chaplin river. Thecountr}^ wehad 
covered during the past week was almost destitute 
of water and probably its svipposed presence in the 
vicinity had something to do with locating the 
collision of the armies at that place. On the 7th 
we halted in the valley of Doctor's creek, a branch 
of Chaplin river, in sight of and about three miles 
east of the village. The creek was nearly dry, only 
small pools here and there to be found in the bed, 
and guards were placed over them to prevent the 
watering of horses and mules in any except those 
reserved for that purpose. 

On the 8th we moved, early in the morning, down 
the valley toward Perryville about a mile, in search 
of water, and bivouacked as before, having no tents 
with us. McCook's corps was on the left of our gen- 
eral line; and about noon we heard musketry, and 
later artillery- firing in his front. No order or inform- 
ation came to us, however, and about four o'clock, 
our scant}' supply of water having again given out. 
a company was detailed from each regiment of our 



72 The Story of the Secoind Regiment. 

division, and carrying all the canteens of their reg- 
iments, they were sent, in command of Lieut. Col. 
Bishop, to look for a fresh supph' further down the 
valley to the left. As we pursued our quest we 
approached the firing and finally found a pool and 
filled our canteens in full sight of the battle field. 
One of the enemy's batteries was within easy range 
of us, but was too busy entertaining their opponents 
to pay any attention to us. We watched the battle 
a few^ minutes and hurried back to our division 
wondering why the w-hole army, and especially 
why our division, was not taking any interest or 
part in it. Soon after our return, and while the 
canteens were being distributed, our brigade was 
ordered to McCook's relief, and moving about half 
a mile to the left we were posted in a strip of 
woods, on the right of his line, our regiinent so far 
back in the trees that we could see nothing of what 
was going on in the front but not so far back as to 
be out of reach of the enemy's artillery, which now 
and then landed a shell among us. We were, how- 
ever, in this position for a few minutes in imminent 
danger from a line of our own men, a new regiment, 
which just after dark was moved up into position in 
the Avoods immediately behind us. They were nerv- 
ouslv expecting to find an enemy in that vicinity, 
ana were just ready to open fire at the first indica- 
tion of his presence. They could not see us in the 
gloom, nor we them, but a prompt and vigorous in- 
troduction of the two regiments to each other by 
name probably saved us from what would have been 
a sad misfortune. We had no experience in the 
whole war more startling than that cocking of 



The Pekkyville Campaign. 73 

muskets behind us, knowing as we did, that they 
were in the hands of friends who were not informed 
of our presence in front of them. 

The battle ended with the daylight, but we lay 
on our arms in position all night and most of the 
next dav, going forward again in the afternoon to 
the creek valley for water, and there spent the night. 

Sheridan's and Mitchell's divisions of Gilbert's 
corps had got into collision with the enemy's left 
during the evening of the 7th, in getting into 
position, and again pending McCook's battle; 
though separated from him by the whole width of 
the valley, they had quite a fight of their own, 
without, how^ever, having any orders from com- 
petent authority conforming their operations to 
McCook's. None of Crittenden's corps participated 
in the engagement in any w^ay. 

As to the battle of Perryville, it was at the 
time understood that Gen. McCook had undertaken 
to fight it out with his corps unaided, and failed 
to accomplish what would have been an easy task 
for our whole army had all been invited to share 
in it. The spectacle of his single corps engaged for 
four hours with the opposing army while our 
division lay idly within sight of the field, and 
Crittenden's corps within sound of the guns^ is, 
even at this distance, an astonishing one. It 
appears from the official reports that neither Buell 
nor Gilbert knew that a battle was going on until 
it was too late to put in additional troops effect- 
ively, and that Gen. Thomas, who commanded on 
the extreme right, knew nothing of it until it was 
all over. 



74 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

He had heard the firing at a distance, and, 
sending for information about it, was told that 
" McCook was making a reconnoisance." 

The opportunity to crush Bragg's army was 
thus lost, and he withdrew it next day. 

Our division, now commanded by Brig. Gen. A. 
Schoepf included three brigades of five regiments 
each; our (the third) brigade was now commanded 
bv Brig. Gen. J. B. Steedman, and comprised the 
87th Indiana (recently joined), and the 18th U. 
S., 2nd Minnesota, 9th Ohio and 35th Ohio 
remaining in it from its first organization. 

On the 10th we moved eastward about five 
miles, passing through Perryville, where we found 
every house filled with the enemy's w^ounded. On 
the 12th we passed Danville and Lancaster, and 
on the 13th camped on Dick's river at Crab 
Orchard. Here we remained a w^eek, w^hile Critten- 
den's corps pursued the enemy south w^ard in a 
fruitless chase. 

During our stay here an inspector general from 
corps headquarters dropped in one day unan- 
nounced, with an order from Maj. Gen. C. C. 
Gilbert, commanding, to inspect the 2nd Minnesota 
regiment. The regiment was always ready for 
inspection, and in a few minutes the column was 
formed, ranks opened and the ceremony begun. 

Each company in turn and the band was critic- 
ally examined, and notations made of all details. 
As to the condition of men and equipments no 
fault was found in any particular; the cartridge 
boxes and haversacks were all filled, and the 
resiment could have marched on ten minutes' 



The Perryvillh Campaign. 75 

notice for three days detached service; so the 
inspector truthfulh' remarked. The captain of the 
right company (G) was, however, sharply repri- 
manded because his first Heutenant stood in front 
of the center of his company and the second 
lieutenant in front of the left files, the inspector 
telling him that he ought to know that these 
officers should stand in front of their places "in 
order of battle." The captain replied that himself 
and lieutenants were in the positions prescribed by 
the army regulations. The inspector then assumed 
to place him under arrest "by command of Maj. 
Gen. Gilbert" for insolence to an officer of the 
staff. This proceeding was overruled b}' the regi- 
mental commander then present, who instructed 
the inspector that the captain's reph- was not 
an insolent, but a civil and correct one; that 
had it been so grossly improper as to justify 
arrest. Gen. Gilbert had not ordered it, and 

• the inspector himself had no authority to make it. 

. The inspector took his leave in hot anger, saying 
that we should hear directly from Gen. Gilbert 
himself. 

A day or two later a written order came from 
corps headquarters for the arrest of the captain to 
await charges and trial as soon as the convenience 
of the service would permit. This order was 
ignored, and next da\' the inspector, who had 
made it his buvsiness to watch the regiment as it 
passed on the road, informed the regimental com- 
mander that it would be his painful duty to report 
to Gen. Gilbert that the order had not been 
obeved. What might have come of all this, had 



76 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

not the corps commander been so soon relieved of 
his high rank and command, can only be con- 
jectured. 

On the 20th we commenced retracing our march, 
and passing successively through Danville, Perry- 
ville, Lebanon, Campbellsville, Green River and 
Cave City, arrived at Bowling Green on the 2nd 
of November. 

Gen Rosecrans assumed command, vice Buell, on 
the 30th of October. 

We moved again on the 6th of November, and 
next day encamped at Mitchell ville. The railroad 
tunnel near and south of this place having been 
obstructed by the retreating enemy, all army sup- 
plies were unloaded from the trains here and for- 
warded by wagons to Gallatin and Nashville. Our 
brigade performed this work here until the 12th, 
when we removed to the tunnel, and for a change 
of employment spent ten days in guarding and 
clearing it out. ' 

On the 23rd our regiment, wnth the 35th Ohio 
and the 18th U. S., marched for Cunningham's 
ford, on the Cumberland river, southeast of and a 
few miles from Gallatin, Tenn., v^here we arrived 
and encamped on the 25th. We remained here 
four weeks, guarding the ford and making oc- 
casional reconnoisances about the vicinity. We did 
not, however, come into any serious collision with 
the enemy. On the 7th of December a Union 
brigade of new regiments, commanded by Col. A. 
B. Moore, was attacked and captured by the 
enemy's forces, under John H. Morgan, at Harts- 
ville, a few^ miles farther up the river. On the 22nd 



The Perryville Campaign. 77 

we were ordered back to Gallatin, and thence 
about five miles southward toward Nashville. 
Here we spent Christmas, and were ordered back 
to Gallatin in great haste on the 26th. 

Our brigade spent the next three weeks pleasantly 
encamped near the village, occupying a good part of 
our time in battalion drill and making an excursion 
into the country now and then for forage and pro- 
visions. All dav on the 31st of December and on 
the 1st of January, we heard the rumbling of the 
cannonade at Stone's river, some thirty miles awa}-, 
and were glad to learn next da}' of the Union 
victory there. 

On the 13th our brigade, under orders to join the 
division at Murfreesboro, marched by the pike some 
thirteen miles and encamped midway between Galla- 
tin and Nashville. Next day our regiment and the 
87th Indiana were again ordered back to Gallatin, 
and returned in a cold winter rain-storm to our 
camp ground vacated the previous day, and here we 
remained two weeks more. This second recall to 
Gallatin was due, as was the first, to the threatened 
attack on the place by the Confederate Gen. John 
H. Morgan. Indeed, for more than two months, 
we had been shuffled from place to place to meet 
him, but he never granted us an interview. 

During our stay at Gallatin the President's proc- 
lamation of emancipation was promulgated, to take 
effect January 1st, 1863, and hastened the complete 
desertion by the negroes in that vicinity, of their 
old homes and masters. 

One of these late "contrabands," now freed- 
men, came to our regimental headquarters with 



78 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

information, that at a point on the south side of 
the Cumberland river, a few miles distant from our 
camp, a good many thousand hogs had been killed 
and cured in hams and bacon in the fall of 1861, 
for account of the Confederate government ; that on 
Buell's approach in the spring of 1862, the meat 
had been transported to Nashville and thence to the 
South, but that the lard in barrels had been buried; 
that he helped to do it and was willing to guide us 
to the place. Next morning, Lieut. Col. Bishop, 
with six companies of the 2nd Minnesota and a 
section of artillerj^ went after the lard with w^agons 
to bring back the booty if succcsvsful. A march of 
four or five miles brought us to the river, which 
was too deep to ford, and the swift current had 
destroyed the landing so that although we found a 
flat scow, that had been used as a ferry boat, it 
was impossible to cross the wagons or artiller^^ 
Leaving these on the north bank with one company 
to protect, if need be, our return crossing, five 
companies went over in the scow, making several 
trips with about thirty men at each load, and after 
marching about a mile g.nd a half our guide pointed 
out a large field, and said "dar it is." A crop of 
corn had been grown and harvested there in 
1862, but on probing the ground near the 
middle of the field with our ramrods, we 
soon located the lard mine. We had brought 
shovels, and the crowd of darkeys who had joined 
us, some from camp and some from neighboring 
farms, very willingly' helped to resurrect the barrels 
w^hich were buried side by side about tw^o feet 
deep in long continuous graves. Squads were sent 



The Perryville Campaign. 79 

meantime to all the neighboring farms, who "bor- 
rowed" all the wagons, carts, mules, horses and oxen 
that could be found, and the lard barrels were con- 
veyed to the river bank as expeditiously as possible. 

About a hundred barrels were so delivered, when 
the ground became so soft from the rain which Avas 
copiously falling that further transportation out of 
the corn field was impossible. Returning to the 
river we recrossed with twenty or thirty barrels, 
which were boosted up the north bank, loaded into 
our wagons, taken to the camp and divStributed to 
the troops and hospitals. 

Lieut. Waite was left at the river with a small 
detachment to load the remainder of the barrels into 
the scow, navigate it down the river to Nashville 
and deliver the lard to the depot quartermaster 
there, which he successfully accomplished. 

This excursion served to break the monotony of 
waiting for Morgan, and as we had plenty of flour 
the old time doughnuts displaced the hard tack for 
a da}^ or two. 

On the 29th we were again ordered to join our 
division, and, boarding a railroad train at Gallatin, 
succeeded in getting to Nashville without recall or 
interruption . 

Our wagons, with our baggage, tents, etc., did 
not reach us until noon on the 80th. On the 31st 
we encamped eleven miles south of Nashville, on 
the Nolensville pike, and under the orders of Brig. 
Gen. James B. Steedman, now commanding the 
division, were ready for a new and we hoped more 
active campaign. 



80 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

CHAPTER VII. 
TRIUNE AND TULLAHOMA. 

On the 1st of February our brigade marched in 
hot haste ten or twelve miles, over the rough, 
narrow, dirt roads towards Franklin, to encounter 
Wheeler's brigade of Confederate cavalry, which was 
reported to be in the vicinity, but we failed to find 
any enemy, and after a day of hard marching w^e 
spent a cold night without tents or shelter. Next 
day we retraced our path to the Nolensville pike and 
encamped on the farm of Col. Battle of the 20th 
Confederate Tennessee regiment, near Concord 
church, and about twelve miles from Nashville. 

This 20th Tennessee was the regiment opposed to 
ours in the fight across the fence at Mill Springs, 
and we occupied their camp and tents at Beech 
Grove the two days succeeding that battle. Col. 
Battle was now with his regiment in Bragg's army. 
His wife and daughters and the widow of his son 
(who was killed, a Lieutenant in his father's regi- 
ment, at Shiloh) were at home. We encamped our 
regiment in the ample lawn, which, shaded with 
fine large trees and sloping from the house towards 
the south, was as pleasant a site as could be desired. 

Our headquarter tents were set quite near the 
house and we soon became acquainted with the 
ladies. They urgently objected to our encamping 
on the ground we had selected, they deeming any of 
the flat wet fields farther away quite good enough 
for us, but being informed of our interview with Col. 



Tkiunk and Tullahoma. 81 

Battle and of his kind hospitality towards us a 
year before, and being reminded that if we did not 
occupv that lovely lawn some other, and no doubt 
worse regiment would, they did not further oppose 
us, though the\' graciously expressed the hope that 
our stay would be short. We remained here a 
month, however, eniplo3'ing our time in various 
reconnoitering and foraging expeditions towards 
the front, w^hich always develo])ed an active enemy 
within a few miles. 

Two or three days after our arrival here, Capt. 
Curtis, of Gen. Rosecrans' staff, made a thorough 
and critical inspection of the regiment, and soon 
afterwards a complimentary letter was received 
from Department Headquarters which referred to 
the inspection and greatly pleased the men, who 
well deserved it. [See appendix No. 13.) 

Col. George, who had been for several weeks 
physically unfit for active duty and exposure to the 
severe winter weather, was obliged to leave us here 
on the 2nd of February, going to Minnesota for 
rest and treatment, on sixty days "sick leave." 

On the 15th a foraging party of two corporals 
and twelve men, under First Sergt. L. N. Holmes, 
all of Company "H," went out to the front three 
or four miles for corn. They were loading their 
wagons from a large and well filled crib when they 
were suddenly surrounded by two companies of 
Confederate cavalry, numbering about 125 men. 
The cavalry charged down upon them firing their 

carbines and yelling "surrender you d d yanks." 

Our boys in the crib did not think it necessary to 
surrender, but commenced firing in return <> with 



82 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

deliberate aim, emptying a saddle with almost every 
shot, and the astonished cavalry soon quit yelling 
and withdrew out of range for consultation ; then 

decided that they had had enough of the "d d 

yanks" and disappeared altogether. Our boys filled 
their wagons, picked up three of the wounded 
rebels and seven riderless horses which the enemy 
had left in the field, and returned safely to camp. 
Two of the wounded died next day. Several others, 
slightly wounded, got away by the help of their 
companions. 

Col. Van Derveer, commanding the brigade, was 
much elated by the brave conduct of the 2nd 
Minnesota boys, and issued a special order compli- 
menting them by name. [See appendix No. 14 ) 

General Steedman, commanding the division, 
thought the aft'air sufficiently creditable to "my 
command" to justify a special report by telegraph 
to department headquarters, describing the fight ; 
refraining, however, from any mention of the 
names or regiment of the men engaged. [See 
appendix No. 15.) 

Another of these details from our regiment 
brought in one day eight army wagon loads of 
fine potatoes, which were a very welcome addition 
to our somewhat too regular bill of fare. 

On the 2nd of March we said "good-b}^" to 
our friends, the ladies of the Battle family, express- 
ing our willingness to take any message they 
might wish to send to the Colonel, and to deliver 
it, if he would wait somcAvhere long enough to get 
it, "a« he probably wouldn't," and in return wc 



Triune and Tullahoma. S3 

were invited to stop and see them as we returned 
northward, if we had time, "as we probably 
wouldn't." 

We marched southward about 15 miles to 
Triune, where the brigade bivouacked for the night 
and remained most of the next day. 

At 4 p. M., on the 3rd. Lieut. Col. Bishop was 
ordered with the 2nd Minnesota regiment, a section 
of artillery and two battalions of the 1st East 
Tennessee cavalry to move southward to the Har- 
peth river and take and hold the ford where the 
Nolensville-Eagleville pike crossed it, and to there 
await the coming of the brigade, which would follow 
next morning. The place was reached about 
sunset; the rebel pickets were driven away, the 
infantry and artillery were posted to command the 
ford, and one battalion of the cavalry was sent 
across the river to reconnoiter the neighboring 
territor3\ They soon found some rebel cavalry in 
small parties, and after a running fight returned 
towards morning with some prisoners. General 
Steedman came up in the morning with the other 
regiments of the brigade, and, crossing the river, 
we found and attacked a party of the enemy, cap- 
turing 60 prisoners and 300 horses and mules. 
Next day we made a quick march of eighteen 
miles to Chapel Hill, where we had another brush 
with the enemy, routing him at the first attack, 
then returned by another road six or seven miles 
and bivouacked, marching next day back to 
Triune, with our booty and prisoners. 

On the 7th we made a ])ermanent camp about 
two miles north of Triimc, in a good defensible 
position with plenty of wood and water. 



84 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Triune was a small hamlet about midway 
between Murfreesboro and Franklin. Here our 
division was assembled and the first regiment 
of East Tennessee cavalry was attached to it, 
and here we remained more than three months. 
Considerable work was done in fortifying the 
position, large details being made from the regi- 
ments in turn for the purpose. The detail of a 
hundred men from our regiment quite astonished 
the Captain of Engineers who had charge of the 
work, by doing about twice as much as had been 
done by any previous one. He profusely com- 
plimented the officers and men for their efficienc}-, 
and to further show his appreciation of their 
v^ork, he invited the entire detail to division head- 
quarters to receive a ration of whiskey. Arriving 
there he was embarrassed to find that the commis- 
sary had none to issue, and he was trying to 
frame a suitable expression of his regret, v^hen it 
occurred to him that Gen. Steedman, who was 
absent at the time, had a keg of the juice in his 
tent. Relieved by the happy thought, he got out 
the keg and a little tin cup, and the boys formed 
in single file around the headquarters tents ; as 
they passed the keg each one received his ration, and 
passing around the tents took his place again at 
the foot of the line. When the keg was emptied 
some fifteen or twenty of the boys were still in line 
ready for their third ration; most of them, how- 
ever, had been satisfied with the second. The 
Captain, who had taken a ration or two himself, 
was very sorry there was not enough to go 
around, but had done the best he could to give 



TrUTNE and TlLKAIlOMA. 85 

each one a drink, and could do no more. The 
detachment made a somewhat boisterous and dis- 
orderly march back to our camp, and their unusual 
hilarit\^ had to be explained by the officer in 
charge. It was said that the Engineer Officer was 
prudently absent himself when Gen. Steedman 
returned to find the keg empty. 

On the 2oth and 26th of March our brigade 
made another excursion into the enemy's territory 
south of Harpeth river, and after a successful skirm- 
ish loaded our train wnth forage and returned to 
camp. On the 29th of March we received Enfield 
rifles to replace the guns of various kinds and 
calibers which we had thus far used. The Enfields 
were not satisfactory, but the change was some 
improvement. 

Gen. J. M. Scofield here superseded Steedman, 
as division commander, and gave us several weeks 
of pretty active exercise in brigade maneuvers and 
drill, the first we had ever had. 

Gen. J. M. Brannan relieved Scofield May 10th, 
and continued as our division commander until the 
reorganization of the army after Chicamauga. 

Our bugle band had, as opportunit}^ was afforded 
for practice, so improved their time that we had 
become quite proud of them, and having some 
money in the regimental fund, a complete set of 
brass instruments was ordered from Cincinnati 
and arrived on the 8th of April. Principal musician 
R. G. Rhodes was announced as band master, and 
for the next few weeks the woods about the camp 
were full of practicing musicians. They made rapid 



86 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

progress, and before we left Triune, June 23rd, our 
band compared well with any in the division. 

Col. George returned on the 31vSt of March, not 
physically in good condition, but able to do duty 
not requiring active exercise. 

Brigade exercises were continued under Gen. 
Brannan, and a grand review of the troops was held 
on the 5th of April. 

On the 1st of May we were supplied with the 
new "shelter tents" or "pup tents," as thev were 
called by the men, and all the wall and bell tents 
w^ere sent back to Nashville, except those required 
by the brigade and regimental headquarters and for 
the field hospitals. These pup tents were simple 
pieces of light canvass, each about the size of an 
army blanket, and so fitted that two comrades by 
buttoning their two pieces together and improvising 
some simple support, could have a comfortable 
shelter from rain or sun. These tents were to be 
carried by the men, and so the wagon trains were 
reduced from thirteen wagons to three for each 
regiment ; the officers of each company being allowed 
one pack mule to carry their baggage. 

On the 4th of June Gen. Gordon Granger came to 
Triune to inspect the position and the troops which 
had come under his command as part of the "right 
wing." The day was spent in brigade and division 
maneuvers in the hot sun, with little rest and no 
food or water. It closed with a grand review, after 
which the troops were marched back to their camps. 

Artillery firing had been heard during the after- 
noon in the direction of Franklin, and when our 
brigade w^as dismissed from the review, at 5 



Triune and Tullahoma. 87 

o'clock, it was ordered to march imtnediateh' to 
Franklin. Col. Van Derveer, commanding it, gave 
us thirty minutes in camp after arriving there for 
supper. During this interval the officers of the 
2nd Minnesota called in a body at headquarters 
and presented a spirited and beautiful ba}^ mare to 
Lieut. Col. Bishop, who had recently lost his horse 
b}^ overheating in the field exercises. This presenta- 
tion was a grateful surprise to him at the time, and 
and will be gratefully remembered as long as 
he lives. She proved to be a most valuable and 
intelligent animal and became a great pet in the 
regiment. She was twice shot under her rider, but 
served until the final muster out of the regiment and 
died in the Colonel's care some fifteen years thereafter. 

We marched at 6 o'clock for Franklin, fifteen 
miles distant. The day had been excessively hot 
and sultry, but now the sky grew black, and, 
after a severe thunder storm, it settled down for a 
steady, heavy, all-night rain. That night's march 
will never be forgotten by the men of Van Derveer's 
brigade. The darkness was intense, the road soft, 
slippery and so uneven that some of the men were 
down or falling all the time. We were ten hours 
in making the march, arriving before daybreak 
utterly exhausted, and physically and mentally 
exasperated. The garrison seemed to be all asleep. 
No enemy was in the neighborhood, and we lay 
down in a lawn in the village to wait for dawn. 
Our field officers stretched themselves on the floor 
of the front porch of the spacious mansion. 

A little before sunrise the front door opened and 
a staff officer came out, and waking Col. George 



88 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

with his foot, told iiim that the presence of the 
regiment on the premises was not agreeable to the 
lady owner, and requested him to move on and 
out. The Colonel had a talent for vigorous and 
emphatic profanity upon occasion, and he did his 
best here; but, as he afterwards acknowledged, no 
man could do justice to such hospitalit}^ as that. 
The officer who had aroused him slunk back into 
the house, withered and abashed, and did not 
appear again during the forenoon. In the after- 
noon we made a reconnoisance in search of the 
enemy, but found none. On the 6th we returned 
to our camp at Triune. 

The usual round of guard and picket duty, bat- 
talion and brigade exercises, was resumed, varied 
by an occasional march to Nashville or to the front 
for supplies. 

On the 23rd we broke camp on an hour's notice, 
and commenced the "Tullahoma Campaign"; 
marching southward and then eastward, in all 
about fifteen miles, over a rough and rocky road, 
to a camp near Salem. Here it commenced raining, 
and of the next seventeen days, fourteen were 
rainy. Of course the roads and countr\' soon 
became almost impassable, and the soldiers seldom 
had dr}^ clothes or rations. 

On the 24th our trains moving eastward were 
threatened from the south by the enemy's cavalry, 
and Lieut. Col. Bishop, with four companies of the 
regiment, was detailed to keep them back. We 
had a skirmish fight in the rain, lasting nearly all 
day, bivouacked on the disputed field at night, and 
rejoined the regiment next day. Lieut. Col. Bishop 



Tkii'xk and Tullahoma. 89 

and several of his men got bullet holes in their 
clothing, but no more serious casualties; the 
enemy, firing raosth^ from horseback, did not aim 
with much precision. On the 29th our regiment 
had another all' day skirmish fight, killing several 
and wounding others of the enemy. Among the 
killed was Col. Starnes, and an aid to Gen. 
Wheeler, who was shot while carrying a dispatch 
from his chief. After he fell from his horse he v^^as 
seen to tear in pieces the message, but it v^as 
recovered, put together and read. Only one man 
of our regiment was wounded. 

At times, w^hen we had forced back the enemy's 
line more rapidly than they approved, they opened 
on us with artiller\' to check our advance. The 
surgeon of the regiment on our right, who was 
riding behind the advancing line, was very suddenly 
let down bv a shell from the enemv's batterv, 
which entered the breast and exploded in the body 
of the horse without hurting the doctor. The boys 
uninercifully guyed him as he gathered up his 
saddle and went to the rear. 

On the 26th we had a rattling skirmish for the 
possession of Hoover's Gap. The enemy gave way 
for us as we advanced rapidly through the gap, 
and although they did a good deal of wild firing, 
no men were hurt in our regiment. 

On the 1st of July we drove the enemy's ])icket 
line into and through Tullahoma, to find that his 
army had evacuated the ])lace during the previous 
night, leaving a good many of their tents standing, 
several big guns, and a considerable (piantity of 
stores. On the 2nd wc reached Elk river, finding 



90 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

it at flood height and the bridge gone, Our regi- 
ment captured one party of eleven prisoners, and 
another of four. 

On the 3rd of July the flood had subsided a 
little and it was found practicable to ford the stream 
by the aid of a rope stretched across to keep the 
men from being carried down by the current. Our 
brigade stripped to the skin ; the knapsacks, clothes, 
rations, cartridge boxes, etc., making a bundle of 
twenty-five or thirty pounds, were carried on the 
bayonet, the gun supported by one hand while the 
other kept a grasp on the rope, as the men in single 
file waded the stream in the rushing waters up to 
their necks. None of the men in our brigade were 
drowned, but some of them lost their bundles in the 
passage and landed destitute and naked. As the 
flood subsided the artillery and trains began to 
cross and a bridge was improvised. On the 4th we 
heard of the battle of Gettysburg and next day of 
the surrender of Vicksburg, both events being 
announced in general orders, and honored by 
national salutes by the artillery. 

The enemy had now disappeared from our 
vicinity, and as it was nearh^ impossible to move 
artillery or trains we rested here nine days, and on 
the 18th moved to Winchester, where we remained 
four weeks, the time being occupied in rebuilding 
the railroads behind us and refitting and equipping 
for the next advance. Just a year ago we were 
encamped here for several days, and ^ve now felt 
quite at home and acquainted. 




JAMES GEORGE, Coi.ONEL. 
March 21. 1862 to June 29, 1864. 



Thk Camtaigx and Battle of Chicamalga. 91 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF 
CHICAMAUGA. 

On the 16th of August our pleasant camp at 
Winchester was broken up and we marched east- 
ward about a mile, under a blazing sun, and two 
miles farther in a terrific thunderstorm ; then finding 
the road full of troops and trains entitled to pre- 
cedence we encamped. Next day we marched three 
miles farther, reaching the foot of the Cumberland 
mountain range, over which our route lay to reach 
the Tennessee river. 

Here we found the heav}' wagon trains toiling 
up the steep, narrow, tortuous road, ascending the 
western slope of the mountain, and the slow prog- 
ress of the last two days was explained. 

On the 18th we found the road clear, and marched 
up the mountain side to Universit\' Place, on the 
summit, where we spent the night. Here the corner- 
.stone of a magnificent "to be" university had been 
laid by Rt. Rev. Bishop Polk, now a general in the 
Confederate army. An endowment of three million 
dollars had been pledged, and the foundations of 
the several buildings had been constructed, when 
the war interrupted the enterprise with an adjourn- 
ment "sine die.'^ 

On the 19th we marched down the eastern slope 
of the mountain range, and encamped at the foot 
in Sweden's Cove, remaining there the 20th. 



92 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Since leaving our Winchester camp we had found 
plenty of green corn, and the "roasting ears" had 
made a considerable item in our subsistence. 

On the 21st we moved to the north bank of the 
Tennessee river, at the mouth of Battle Creek, about 
six miles above Bridgeport, where the railroad 
bridge had been destroyed, and was being rebuilt 
by our engineer forces. 

The river here was broad and deep, and the 
enemy's pickets lined the south bank. They, for the 
first few days, kept popping their guns at our men 
whenever they approached the river, and occasion- 
ally the bullets w^ould reach our camps, but we 
picketed the north bank with better rifles, and 
after a competitive trial of marksmanship, the men 
on duty came to an agreement to save their ammu- 
nition, and thereafter amused themselves in guying 
each other '^ viva voce.^^ The men of both armies, 
not on duty, came down freely to bathe on their 
respective sides of the river, and soon it got to be 
a common practice for a good swimmer or two 
from each side to meet in mid river and swap lies, 
newspapers, etc., while the pickets kept watch to 
see there should be no foul play or breach of 
confidence. 

Col. George rejoined us here on the 24th, from a 
long absence on sick leave, and left us again on the 
27th, promising to be back, if alive, in time for the 
expected battle. He kept his promise, returning to 
the regiment on the IStli of September, the day 
before the battle of Chicamauga. Meanwhile 
Company "F" of our regiment, composed mostly of 
river men and raftsmen from the Lake St. Croix 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 93 

lumber regions, had been quietly at work in Battle 
Creek, out of the eneiny's sight, constructing rafts 
and rude scows, on which four of our companies 
effected a crossing in the evening of the 29th, and 
got possession of the south shore. The enemy, not 
expecting an effort to cross here, had left only a 
few men to watch the river, not enough to make 
any serious opposition. By noon next day our 
entire brigade was over, and the two other bri- 
gades of our division (Brannan's) completed the 
crossing on the 31st. 

Meantime the other divisions of the arni}^ were 
crossing simultaneously at several points above 
and below us, and our trains and artillery were 
sent down to Bridgeport, to cross on the new bridge 
when it should be read\\ 

On the first day of September we moved out 
about three miles to Graham's Spring, near the foot 
of Raccoon mountain, and near the monument 
marking the corner of the three states, Alabama, 
Georgia and Tennessee. 

Near this camp was the celebrated "Nick a Jack" 
or Salt-petre cave, which was visited and explored 
by hundreds of our men during our four days' en- 
campment here. A large stream of pure water 
issued from the mouth of the cave, which was 
about twenty feet high and seventy feet wide. 
The cave had been explored, it was said, for a 
distance of several miles; some of our men, in 
trying to verify this, got lost, and with consider- 
able difficulty were found and rescued, after spend- 
ing a very long night, as they said, "in the bowels 
of the Confederacy." 



94 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Here the Confederate government had made an 
attempt, with some success, to obtain salt-petre for 
the manufacture of gunpowder. On the 5th, our 
train and artillery having arrived, w^e marched up 
the "Nick a Jack trace," as the ravine is called b}^ 
which the road ascends the western slope of 
Raccoon mountain. After making four or five 
miles it was found that the road needed so much 
repair and the wagons so much help that it would 
be impossible to get the trains to the summit that 
night, and we were obliged to go back two miles 
to find water for a camp. On the 6th we com- 
pleted the ascent and encamped on the summit, 
and on the 7th descended the eastern slope into 
Lookout, or Will's valley, and encamped at Boiling 
Springs, about five miles below Trenton. 

Here we remained two days, learning on the 
9th that Bragg had evacuated Chattanooga on 
the 8th and was retiring southward. 

On the 10th we marched through Trenton and 
up the Lookout valley about thirteen miles. On 
the 11th we started in the morning, but having 
the road ahead of us full of artillery and trains 
toiling up the mountain, we only made three miles 
and halted at the foot of a long steep grade. 
Orders reached us at 7 p. m. to start at once and 
pass the trains, as the enemy had been encountered 
on the opposite side of the mountain, but these 
orders were soon countermanded, and we bivouacked 
again. 

Next morning we started at 5 o'clock, crossed 
the mountain and halted in . Chattanooga valley' 
at 10 A. M. At 2 p. M. made a reconnoisance. 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 95 

returning to our position at 7 o'clock. Here we 
remained the 13th and 14th, while troops and 
trains were moving around and behind us in a 
way that then seemed mysterious and without any 
definite or intelligible purpose. On the 15th our 
brigade moved to Lee's Mill, on or near the 
Chicamauga creek, and bivouacked in line of battle 
in apparent preparation for a fight right there. 
We remained there the 16th, "standing to arms" 
at four o'clock on the mornings of the 16th and 
17th, in expectation of an early attack. 

On the 17th the heav}- clouds of dust extending 
along the eastern slope of the Chicamauga valley 
showed us the enemy's columns were in motion 
northward, and about 8 o'clock we "took arms" 
and commenced our march "bj- the left flank" 
abreast of, and less than a mile distant from, the 
enem^^'s parallel march by his "right flank." 

Our progress was slow, tlie day hot and the 
road ankle deep with fine dust, with which the 
tramping feet filled the air as the column moved 
along. At ten o'clock we had got about three 
miles from our starting point, when some scatter- 
ing musket shots were heard in our rear, and 
presently an order was received from Col. Van 
Derveer, commanding our brigade, for the 2nd 
Minnesota to return as far as Pond Springs, see 
what was the matter and rejoin the brigade. We 
unslung and piled our knapsacks, leaving a few 
men with them, and in less than an hour retraced 
nearly the whole forenoon's march. As we came 
in sight of the springs the two leading companies 
were dej)l()yed forward, and men were detailed from 



96 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

each company to take all the canteens and fill 
them at the springs as promptly as possible upon 
our arrival there. Approaching the place we found 
the springs in possession of a detachment of the 
enemy's cavalry, who were resting in unsuspicious 
comfort, many of them dismounted. They had 
been worr34ng our trains, and being repulsed by 
the guards, had halted here for reinforcements. 
They were prompth^ attacked and routed by our 
advance skirmishers, and while we halted, main- 
taining ranks, the canteens were filled and dis- 
tributed. Then we reversed our march, returning 
by the left flank to our brigade, which had not 
moved during our absence, and soon bivouacked 
for the night. 

The light from the enemy's camp fires was 
visible all night to the eastward, and we slept 
"on our arms," ready to be attacked if he so 
pleased. 

All day a feverish, mysterious, nervous forebod- 
ing had seemed to pervade the camp ; every one 
was conscious of it and apprehensive that every- 
thing was not in order as it should be. The con- 
fused and halting marches, of which the purpose 
or destination was not apparent, were not un- 
observed by the men, and regimental and brigade 
oflicers had little, if any, better knowledge of the 
situation than their men had. 

We remained here all day on the 18th, while 
troops and artillery and trains were moving behind 
us to the left or northward, and about 5 p. m. we 
joined in the procession. Old soldiers will remem- 
ber that a night march of unusual fatigue generally 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 97 

commenced just before supper. On this occasion 
we moved about a quarter of a mile per hour 
through the whole night, halting every few rods 
just long enough to ,get stiff and cold, but 
never long enough to build fires and get warm. 
Many of the men would fall asleep, sinking down 
in the road and some standing on their feet, but 
strict orders were given not to leave the column, 
and to follow closely those leading us. As the day 
began to dawn we could see the brigades and 
batteries leaving the road from time to time and 
moving off in line of battle into the w^oods to the 
eastward towards the Chicamauga creek, and we 
knew that the army w^as taking position for the 
great contest so long anticipated. We could now 
understand how this had been going on during 
the night, and how slow and difficult had been the 
construction of the grand line of battle in the 
darkness, and our tedious and halting progress 
was so accounted for. 

As we began to understand the situation our 
vague apprehensions gave place to an active 
and intelligent interest in the preparations 
being made, and we braced up and awaited our 
time for assignment to position. We had been all 
night in moving less than five miles, were now on 
the Lafayette-Chattanooga road, and had passed 
in the darkness near Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters 
at the Widow Glenn's house. At 8 o'clock our 
brigade halted, filed out of the road near Kelly's 
house and stacked arms, while the word was 
passed down the line "twenty minutes for break- 
fast." In five minutes hundreds of little fires were 



98 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

kindled and hundreds of little coffee cans were filled 
with water from the canteens and set to boil by 
one of each pair of chums, while the other sliced 
and broiled the bacon ; in ten minutes the boiling 
coffee was lifted off, the luscious bacon was nicely 
browned, and the ever toothsome hardtack had 
been moistened and toasted, and — here comes an 
aid at a furious gallop down the dusty road ; a 
brief order delivered by him to Col. Van Derveer, 
our brigade commander, and each regiment gets 
orders to "take arms" and march immediately. 
Of course some urgent and peremptory necessity 
was supposed, but how could we leave that break- 
fast untasted, even for love of country or of glory. 
The bugle call to "attention" was drowned in a 
tempest of curses, but the order was promptly 
obeyed nevertheless, arms were taken, and we filed 
out into the road, now clear, and briskly moved 
off northward in a cloud of choking dust. "Dread- 
ful! dreadful!" exclaimed our venerable chaplain, 
as the air grew sulphurous with profanity. "But 
think," said one near him, "how dreadfuller it 
would be to go into battle and get killed with all 
those curses in 'em." "Colonel," said one of these 
men a quarter of a century later, "d'ye moind 
that breakfast we didn't ate at Chicamauga? 
Be jabers, oi can taste it yet." 

After making about a mile we halted near 
McDaniel's house, whence a road, or rather a 
narrow wagon track, leads through the open oak 
woods eastward to Reed's bridge and ford on the 
Chicamauga creek. 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 99 

It maj' be here explained that the extreme left of 
our general line of battle rested in the woods, about 
opposite the midwaj^ point between Kelly's and 
McDaniel's houses, and the position of the line, 
extending southward and facing eastw^ard, was 
about midway between and parallel to the road 
and the creek. So as we faced the eastward and 
marched in brigade order of battle along the Reed's 
bridge road, we were detached from and nearly half 
a mile to the left of the left division (Baird's) of 
our established line. Our orders w^ere said to have 
been given on information by Col. McCook, com- 
manding a cavalr\^ brigade on the left, that only 
one Confederate brigade had crossed to the west 
side of the Chicamauga, that he (McCook) had 
destroyed the bridge (Reed's) behind it, and we were 
to take and hold the ford, preventing further cross- 
ing by the enemy, while our first and second 
brigades were to find, attack and capture the 
enemy's supposed isolated brigade. This informa- 
tion, if given, proved entirely erroneous, nearly the 
whole Confederate army being in position between 
our lines and the creek, and their brigades were not 
hard to find w^hen we came to look for them. 

Our brigade was formed wath the 2nd Minnesota 
on the left and the 35th Ohio on the right of the 
front line, with Smith's battery in the road betw^een 
them. The 87th Indiana in a second line, behind 
the 35th Ohio ; the 9th Ohio was detached with 
the division ammunition train. So we commenced 
our march, a few skirmishers preceding our front 
line. After proceeding along the road, which seemed 
to follow a ridge of small elevation, and while yet 



loo The Story of the Second Regiment. 

to the left and rear of Baird's division, of whose 
position we had no knowledge, we heard musketry 
to our right and front. Changing our direction to 
face it, to the southward, w^e moved off the ridge 
and down an easy slope, and soon met the enemy 
in force, now supposed to be Echol's and Wilson's 
brigades, and the firing began at once. In a few 
minutes the enemy retired, then rallied and attacked 
again, and were again repulsed, this time retiring 
out of our sight. We gathered up our w^ounded 
men and carried them back over the ridge to the 
northern slope in our rear (the band performing 
this service), replenished the cartridge boxes and 
readjusted our line, the 87th Indiana meantime 
changing places with the 35th Ohio, on our right. 
In a few minutes the firing again broke out in our 
front, but while bullets dropped in among us, we 
were, on account of the trees and under brush, 
unable to see any men for a time. Then the firing 
approached and the big guns joined in for a few 
rounds, then a burst of cheers, "the rebel yell," the 
artillery ceased and the rattling musketry came 
nearer and the bullets thicker. Our men were get- 
ting nervous and \vere ordered to lie down and hold 
their fire until thc}^ could see the enemy. Presently, 
to our astonishment, a straggling line of men in 
our own uniform appeared, then more of them, 
running directly toward us, their speed accelerated 
every moment by the yelling and firing of the 
exultant enemj^ behind them. Our men got ready 
and waited while the stampeded brigade, olficfers 
and men, passed over our lines to the rear, and 
then as the pursuing enemy came in view, gave them 



The Campaign and Batti,e of Chicamauga. 101 

a volley that extinguished their yelling and stopped 
their advance. They rallied, however, and stood for 
a few minutes receiving and returning our fire, then 
wavered, broke and ran out of sight. Just now the 
9th Ohio arrived, having abandoned the ammuni- 
tion train when the firing broke out, and followed 
our trail to the front. The firing had ceased when 
Col. Kammerling rode up and vociferously demanded 
'Svhere them Got tam rebels gone;" some one 
pointed in the direction they were last seen, and 
away went the 9th Ohio over our front line, disre- 
garding Van Derveer's orders to come back, and we 
could hear them yell and cheer in both languages 
long after they disappeared from sight. About a 
quarter of a mile distant they found and recaptured 
the batter}' (Guenther's), which the enemy had 
taken half an hour before. The enemy's troops 
about the battery made a fight for it, and Kam- 
merling lost a good many men in getting it, and 
was even then obliged to leave it, when recalled by 
a peremptory order to rejoin the brigade, which he 
did not receive or obey too soon. 

During the first fighting our band men, as they 
had been previously instructed, were busy with the 
stretchers, picking up the wounded and carr3nng 
them back up the slope of the ridge and over to the 
north side, where our surgeon. Dr. Otis Ayer, had 
established a temporary hospital, and was giving 
them such attention as circumstances permitted. It 
soon happened, however, that some of these men 
were shot the second time while being carried back, 
and the carrying was suspended until the firing 
should cease. 



102 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Our skirmishers soon reported the eneiny moving 
around our left flank, and oiu* regiment by facing 
left and filing left, changed front to face the east. 
The enemy made an attack upon us in this 
position, w^hich was repulsed by our regiment 
alone, and then by the same maneuver we changed 
front again to face the north, the enemy having 
passed a large force around our left flank during 
the last attack, which was probably made to 
cover their movement. 

We were now in the road again, and on the 
right of our brigade, on a line nearly parallel to 
our first position, but facing the opposite direction, 
and the movement had brought our left company 
next to the battery, which, without changing 
position much, had exchanged the places of its 
guns and caissons, and now faced the north ; the 
other regiments of our brigade had formed on the 
left of the batter3% and for a moment of silence 
we awaited the onset. Here on the ground, now 
before us, lay our wounded men, who had be^n 
carried back from the first line of fight, and were 
now between the opposing lines. But — here they 
come — ranks after ranks — emerging from the shelter- 
ing trees and underbrush, and approaching us with 
steady tramp and desperate silence. Our men were 
cautioned now to shoot to kill, and we opened 
with file firing that soon broke up the orderly 
march of the first line, whose men hesitated and 
commenced firing wildly ; their second lines were 
now promptly moved up, and all together pressed 
on in the charge. Our big guns were loaded with 
canister, w^hich opened great gaps in the enemy's 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 103 

columns at every discharge, while the withering 
fire of our infantry was thinning their ranks at 
every step of their advance. They greatly out- 
numbered us, and it seemed a question for a time 
whether we could so reduce their numbers and 
their nerve as to prevent an actual collision in 
which they would have the majority ; but they 
began to waver at sixty yards, and at forty they 
broke, and then ran, every man for himself, leav- 
ing, alas ! hundreds of brave fellows prostrate in 
helpless suffering before us, some of them inter- 
mingling with our own wounded men who had 
been carried there from the first fight of the morning. 

We supposed this attacking force to have been 
the division which had earlier in the day success- 
fully assaulted the brigades of King and Scribner, 
capturing their two batteries. This assault and 
repulse ended our part of the battle for the day; 
we now refilled our cartridge boxes, gathered our 
wounded men and sent them to the field hospital 
at Cloud's house, and collected our dead for burial. 

Our regiment had commenced the battle with 
three hundred and eight3'-four men and officers, of 
whom eight had been killed and forty-one w^ounded ; 
none missing. 

While waiting orders here we heard from time 
to time the roar of battle along the line to the 
southward, but saw nothing more of the enemy in 
our vicinity. 

In the afternoon we were moved southward to 
a field southwest of Kelly's house, where we 
bivouacked for the night. We had had no rest and 
but little food since noon of the 18th. The night 



104 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

was clear and cold, and many of the men in the 
excitement and changing positions in the battle, 
had lost their knapsacks and blankets. No fires 
were permitted until after sunrise next morning, 
and we passed a cheerless and uncomfortable night. 
Yet when we remembered the thousands of poor 
fellows who, maimed and suffering, lay scattered 
all over the fields and woods, without food, water 
or care, we forgot our own discomfort in pity for 
the wounded and dying. 

We all knew that the issue had not been decided, 
aud that the battle must be renewed next day, 
with probably better preparation and more des- 
perate fighting, and no one could predict what 
would be his owm fate when the contest should be 
over. 

Sunday morning, the 20th, the sun rose peace- 
fully over the misty landscape ; all was quiet as 
the grave ; the stillness was in fact oppressive for 
a time. The tired soldiers, stiff with cold, got up 
from their hard beds on the ground, stamped the 
kinks out of their legs and answered the roll call, 
and then, kindling their little fires, cooked their 
bacon and coffee. Our brigade, not being in line, 
v^as then formed as a reserve in an open field near 
Kelly's house, and west of the Lafayette road, 
perhaps a quarter of a mile in rear of the line of 
battle which, located in the woods, was invisible 
to us. 

About nine o'clock a scattering fire of musketry 
ran along the line in our front, increasing rapidly 
until within a few minutes the terrific roar of file 
firing was in full volume, and the enemy's bullets 



The Campaign and Battlk of Chicamauga. 105 

were passing over our line of battle, chipping 
through the leaves and branches of the trees, and 
dropping into, among and around us in a very 
disquieting manner. Directlv the artillery opened 
also, and while the big shells were not so numerous 
as the little bullets, they commanded more;, deference 
and respect individually when they did come. This 
did not appear to be a nice quiet place for a reserve 
brigade, but there was none more sheltered in the 
vicinity, so we had to stay there and take it; the 
men meanwhile bracing each other up with jokes 
and facetious comments on everything in sight or 
that might happen. 

Presently the stragglers appeared coming out of 
the woods and crossing the road and field, passing 
us to the rear. Some few of them were wounded, 
but the most of them v/ere cowardly skulkers who 
had sneaked out of the line of battle, and were 
getting out of personal danger as fast as they could. 
Their number increased rapidlv, until it seemed to 
us that our experience of the previous day was 
about to be repeated. Some efforts were made to 
stop and reform the demoralized fugitives, but most 
of them had thrown away their guns and all of 
them their courage, and in their then condition they 
were not worth stopping. One party of six emerged 
from the woods, carrying a blanket in which lay a 
man with face covered. These men all carried their 
guns also, and we set them down as a guard 
detailed to carr}^ back some general officer, desper- 
ately wounded no doubt; who could he be? Pos- 
sibly our own Van Cleve, whose division we knew 
was somewhere in the front line. Directlv a shell 



106 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

came howling through the woods and burst on the 
ground near them, when they dropped the blanket 
and their guns and took the double quick to the 
rear, and the man in the blanket got up and ran 
after them. Out of this and other incidents we got 
some diversion, yet the situation was a trying one 
and we were much relieved when orders came to 
go to the left of the line to repel a threatened attack 
there. We moved northward along the west side of 
and parallel to the Lafayette road some distance, 
and then changing direction to the right approached 
the road with our front facing eastward, parallel 
to it. At this point we passed through a thicket 
of small pines and other trees, which had obstructed 
our view to the north and east. Emerging from 
this we crossed the road in line of battle, to take 
position on the left of a battery already there. Our 
brigade was in two lines, the 2nd Minnesota being 
on the right of the front line, nearest the battery, 
the 87th Indiana on its left, and the 35th and 9th 
Ohio in the second line. Before us lay a large open 
field, bounded on the north by a strip of woods, 
perhaps twenty rods distant from the left of our 
brigade. As we halted on the east side of the road 
and began looking about for the enemy, whose 
appearance we expected in our front (eastward), 
the air was suddenly filled with bullets and a line 
of gray smoke appeared along the edge of the 
woods on our left and at right angles with our 
lines. A change of front to the left was instantly 
ordered, and executed by the left wheel of the 
brigade. Pending this movement, which was made 
on the run, we could not return the enemy's fire, 



The Campaign axd Battle of Chicamaiga. 107 

and we lost a good many men. The mounted 
officers seemed to be especialh- selected, several of 



CORRECTION. 

Thf sentence commencing with the fifth line of pajzc 1()7 •shotild rend 
as follows: 

"The wheel completed, our line commenced tiring 
at once, but finding ourselves at disadvantage in 
the open field we charged up to the edge of the 
woods, driving the enemy back and then ajjain 
opened fire on them at short range." 



sion. Among these was their brigade commander, 
Gen. Adams, of Breckinridge's division. It appeared 
that this division had passed entirely around the 
left of our line, and was about to attack our left 
division in the rear, when we arrived and encount- 
ered it as above described. 

The fighting over for a time, our wounded men 
were being gathered up and made as comfortable as 
possible, until the}' should be removed to the hos- 
pital. In the gallop around with the right wing of 
his regiment in the open field, the horse bearing the 
writer was shot in the breast, and dropping to her 
knees dismounted her rider by a flying somersault 
over her head. She was abandoned there but was 
found after the fight by one of our wounded men, 
and they helped each other over the road to Ross- 
ville, rejoining the regiment about midnight. After 
several weeks in hospital both recovered and served 
to the end of the war. 



106 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

came howling through the \^oods and burst on the 
ground near them, when they dropped the blanket 
and their guns and took the double quick to the 



tijis we crossed the road in line of battle, to take 
position on the left of a battery already there. Our 
brigade was in two lines, the 2nd Minnesota being 
on the right of the front line, nearest the battery, 
the 87th Indiana on its left, and the 35th and 9th 
Ohio in the second line. Before us lay a large open 
field, bounded on the north by a strip of woods, 
perhaps twenty rods distant from the left of our 
brigade. As we halted on the east side of the road 
and began looking about for the enemy, whose 
appearance we expected in our front (eastward), 
the air was suddenly filled with bullets and a line 
of gray smoke appeared along the edge of the 
woods on our left and at right angles with our 
lines. A change of front to the left was instantly 
ordered, and executed by the left wheel of the 
brigade. Pending this movement, w^hich was made 
on the run, we could not return the enemy's fire, 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 107 

and we lost a good many men. The inounted 
officers seemed to be especially selected, several of 
them and all of the horses in the brigade but two, 
were shot before the affair was over. 

The w^heel completed, our first line charged at 
once up to the edge of the woods, driving the enemy 
back, and then opened fire on them at short range. 
They were stubborn and slow to give way, and 
after a few minutes firing by our front line. Col. 
Van Derveer ordered the second line to pass the 
first and charge them again. This was done, the 
first line joining in the charge, and the enemy's 
front was thus broken up and soon they retired, 
leaving the field and their wounded in our posses- 
sion. Among these was their brigade commander, 
Gen. Adams, of Breckinridge's division. It appeared 
that this division had passed entirely around the 
left of our line, and was about to attack our left 
division in the rear, when we arrived and encount- 
ered it as above described. 

The fighting over for a time, our wounded men 
were being gathered up and made as comfortable as 
possible, until the}' should be removed to the hos- 
pital. In the gallop around with the right wing of 
his regiment in the open field, the horse bearing the 
writer was shot in the breast, and dropping to her 
knees dismounted her rider by a flying somersault 
over her head. She was abandoned there but was 
found after the fight by one of our wounded men, 
and they helped each other over the road to Ross- 
ville, rejoining the regiment about midnight. After 
several weeks in hospital both recovered and served 
to the end of the war. 



108 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Presently the crash of musketry was heard again 
to our right, and as we listened it seemed to be veer- 
ing around to our rear. As the enemy then had dis- 
appeared from our own front, a few men were 
detailed to care for the wounded until the ambu- 
lances should arrive, and we marched away towards 
the sound of the guns. The enemy soon reoccupied 
the field we had won and left, and the twelve 
detailed men with our assistant surgeon. Dr. Otis 
Ayerj and many of our wounded were made 
prisoners. As we got into the open field, where we 
had been "in reserve" in the morning, we were met 
by an aid from Gen. Thomas, who conducted us to 
Horseshoe Ridge, so called, near the Snodgrass house. 
The battle seemed to be trending to that position 
from all directions and we could see that we were 
needed there. Gen. Thomas rode down to meet us, 
and after giving some directions to Col. Van Derveer, 
sat upon his horse and looked the men over as we 
marched past him and up the slope of the ridge. 
Undoubtedly he was glad to see, in this emergency, 
the regiments, that under his eye, had fought and 
won "Mill Springs," and he said to the writer that 
he "w^as glad to see us in such good order." We 
did not then know how many troops he had seen 
in disorder during the day, nor did he know that 
within an hour's fighting we had just lost more 
than one-third of our regiment in killed and wounded, 
yet we greatly appreciated the compliment at the 
time. 

Arriving on the ridge, our regiment took the 
place of one already there (the 21st Ohio), which 
had exhausted its cartridge boxes, and immediately 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. 109 

had a view of the assaulting columns of the enemy, 
just commencing the ascent of the southern slope 
in our front. Ranks followed ranks in close order, 
moving briskly and bravely towards us. It was 
theirs to advance, ours, now, to stand and repel. 
Again the order was passed to aim carefully and 
make every shot count, and the deadly work 
began. The front ranks melted away under the 
rapid fire of our men, but those following bowed 
their heads to the storm of bullets and pressed on, 
some of them falling at every step, until, the sup- 
porting touch of elbows being lost, the sur- 
vivors hesitate, halt, then turning, start back 
with a rush that carries everything with them to 
the rear — all who escape the bullets, as deadly in 
the wild retreat as in the desperate and orderly 
advance. This was all repeated again and again, 
until the slope was so covered with dead and 
w^ounded men that looking from our position we 
could hardh^ see the ground. Never was any 
position more gallantly assaulted or more des- 
perately defended. Meanwhile General Steedman 
had arrived v^ith two brigades of fresh troops, 
who came up on our right with enthusiastic 
cheers and "forty rounds" in their boxes, just in 
time to meet the enemy's advance on the crest. 
Our brigade had so far been the right of our line 
at this place (except three detached regiments), 
and being furiously assaulted in front, could not 
have prevented the enemy from enveloping our 
right flank, as they seemed to have plenty of 
troops and had discovered that the ridge to our 
right was vacant. Steedman's arrival and prompt 



110 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

attack regained and secured that ground, and he 
brought a spare wagon load of cartridges — more 
precious than diamonds — as many of our men had 
placed the last one in the gun. The cartridges 
were quickly brought to the line and distributed, 
just in time to meet the next attack. This was 
made by fresh troops, and their adv^ance was only 
broken up when their foremost men were "within 
ten paces of our line. Some of them came on and 
surrendered; most of them who ran back were 
killed or wounded before they got out of range. 
From five to six o'clock an ominous quietude 
prevailed. Our cartridges were again exhausted, 
and the boxes of our own and the enemy's dead 
and wounded were searched and emptied, and 
bayonets were fixed when it was found that we 
had less than two rounds to the man. Another 
attack was made just before dark, and w^as 
repulsed in our front as the others had been, but 
there seemed to be no contest on the right, where 
Steedman's line had been, and presently we found 
that his troops had been withdrawn and that the 
enemy w^ere groping their way around to our 
right and rear, and had already captured the 
detached regiments which had been between us and 
Steedman. The 35th Ohio was promptly placed to 
protect that flank, and after receiving a few shots 
the enemy retired, no doubt in the darkening 
woods uncertain of the situation, and disconcerted 
by the loss of their commanding officer, who fell 
there. 

After another hour of waiting we were ordered 
to move to Rossville hj the Dry Valley road, 



The Campaign and Battle of Chicamauga. Ill 

which we did, w4th empty guns, but without 
opposition or adventure, our brigade being, as we 
supposed, the last Union troops to leave the 
bloody field. Our division commander, however, 
says as to this in his official reports (just pub- 
lished) that the 68th and 101st Indiana covered 
the retirement of our brigade, they "being the 
only troops that had an\' aminiinition whatever." 
About midnight we arrived at Rossville gap, and 
forming line, stacked arms and laid down to rest. 
Next morning at Rossville, a muster and roll call 
was had, and every man of the 2nd Minnesota 
regiment of the 384, who commenced the battle of 
the 19th, was accounted for; 35 had been killed, 
113 w^ounded, 14 captured and 222 were present 
for duty unhurt. This report attracted the atten- 
tion of the brigade commander, who, after verif\'ing 
its correctness, said in his official report of the 
battle, " It is a notable fact that the 2nd Minnesota 
regiment had not a single man among the missing, 
or a straggler during the two days engagement." 

It appears from the "official records" just pub- 
lished by the War Department that our (Van 
Derveer's) brigade was the last organized brigade 
to leave the field, being followed only by the two 
detached regiments as mentioned above. Also, that 
but one (Whitaker's) of the thirty-six brigades of 
the Army of the Cumberland engaged in these 
battles, lost so many men in ])roportion to the men 
engaged as did ours. This, considered with the 
fact that at no time during either day did we vacate 
any position in presence of the enemy, shows that 



112 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

the quality and discipline of the regiments were to 
be relied on in any emergency. 

The braver}^ and persistence with which the 
enemy assaulted our line on the Horseshoe Ridge 
may be estimated when we know that his two 
divisions (Hindman's and Preston's) lost more than 
three thousand killed and wounded in their vain 
efforts to capture it. 

No serious demonstration was made by the 
enemy on the 21st, though our division remained 
in position at Rossville gap. That day was 
occupied by Gen. Rosecrans in placing the troops 
about Chattanooga as they were collected, and in 
restoring order and supplying ammunition, and 
otherwise preparing for defence. 

Our brigade was ordered in about midnight, 
and at daybreak on the 22nd was in line at and 
in front of Chattanooga. [See official reports, 
appendix Nos. 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.) 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 113 

CHAPTER IX. 
CHATTANOOGA AND MISSION RIDGE. 

As the troops arrived at Chattanooga from the 
Chicamauga battle field, they were formed in a 
defensive line extending from the Tennessee river 
above (north of) the town, around by the east in 
a grand semi-circle, enclosing it, to the river bank 
below (south of) it, the line being about two miles 
long. The river sweeping around the town by the 
vs^est, in a corresponding curve enclosed it on that 
side. 

Our division, being the last to arrive, at day- 
break of the 22nd, was placed in position near the 
center of the line and on and across the Rossville 
road, by which we had come. 

A chain of pickets being established about half a 
mile in front of the general line, the troops began 
at once to protect themselves in position, by exca- 
vating a simple ditch, throwing the earth in a ridge 
on the outer side of it, and by the middle of the 
forenoon a continuous intrenched line had been 
completed. This was from day to day improved 
and strengthened, and at intervals quite pretentious 
works were constructed of earth, and supplied with 
artillery. The enemy appeared about noon of the 
22nd, and as they located our picket line, established 
theirs conforming to it and from forty to eighty 
rods distant, and then formed their lines and estab- 
lished their camps nearU' parallel and about a mile 
and a half from ours ; occupying also the point of 



114 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Lookout mountain and the crest of Mission Ridge, 
and fortifying them. 

Here for two months the two armies faced each 
other ; the enemy having its line of communication 
by rail from Atlanta open and unobstructed, was 
well supplied with food, while our army, dependent 
on a difficult and tortuous route from Bridgeport 
over the mountains, was for several weeks reduced 
to half rations of food and forage, while clothing 
and other supplies could not be got through at all. 
Most of the men had lost or thrown away, in the 
two days battle, their tents and blankets, and now 
these were much needed as the cold weather came 
on. The exposure to the weather and the poor and 
scanty food, with the confinement in the line of 
battle camps, rapidly increased our sick roll and 
filled the hospitals, while for want of forage the 
horses and mules generally became unfit for any 
service and many of them perished. 

The operations by which the "river line" was 
opened and the situation improved cannot be and 
need not be detailed in this narrative, which does 
not pretend to be a history of armies or of cam- 
paigns. Our men bore the want of proper shelter, 
clothing and food with brave and uncomplaining 
patience, and with no thought of giving up the 
position so dearly won and so important to hold. 

Meantime we had some diversions, such as they 
were. For a while the fences and spare houses 
supplied us with fuel, but these were soon exhausted 
and all the shade and fruit trees within the lines 
w^ere next consumed, the ground being cleared 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 115 

quite out to our picket line of everything that 
would burn. Then it got to be the habit about 
once a week to force back the enemy's picket line 
sixty or eighty rods to take in some more trees. 
This was usually done at the hour when our 
pickets were relieved by fresh details, the old and 
new guards joining in the enterprise. The opposing 
picket lines got to be on habitually good terms 
with each other, and although the enemy always 
resisted vigorously any advance upon them, yet, 
after the brush was over and the new line estab- 
lished, they seemed to bear no resentment, and 
would permit our choppers and wagons to work 
quite up to our line of sentinels and within easy 
musket range without molestation. 

The enemy had planted some heavj^ guns on the 
nose of Lookout mountain, and would occasionally 
admonish us of their presence by heaving a big 
shell into our camps. One of these shells descended 
through the roof and two floors of a hospital 
building filled with sick and wounded men, but 
without harming any one, as it did not explode. 
Another one burst over our regiment, mortally 
wounding Sergt. Caviezel, of Company "F," and 
injuring several others. Soon, however, our camp 
sentinels were instructed to watch for the smoke 
or flash of the gun and give warning, and as the 
shell in its flight was usualU^ visible against the 
sky, the men could find shelter if necessary. But, 
for want of ammunition, probably, the enemy did 
not thus annoy us ver^' often, and we gradualh' 
ceased to expect or watch for the "big kettles," as 
the bovs called them. 



116 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Here the army was reorganized, and when this 
was completed we found that the 101st Indiana, 
75th Indiana and the 105th Ohio had been added 
to the brigade. Col. Van Derveer, of the 35th 
Ohio, still commanding it. In the seven regiments 
now composing it, he had in the aggregate less 
men than in the four with which he commenced 
the battle of Chicamauga, four weeks ago. We 
are now known as the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 
14th Army Corps, Brig. Gen. A. Baird commanding 
the division and Maj. Gen. Geo. H. Thomas the 
corps. 

On the 19th of October Gen. Rosecrans vacated 
and Gen. Thomas assumed command of the Army 
of the Cumberland, and Gen. John H. Palmer of 
the 14th Corps. On the 20th our reorganized 
brigade was assembled and re-encamped in a new 
position, our regiment occupying what was then 
known as Hospital Hill, about half a mile in rear 
of our former position, and a much more desirable 
location. Here we constructed huts, and with the 
scanty materials available made them as comfort- 
able as we could. 

On the 4th of October Maj. Davis, who had 
been wounded at Chicamauga, left us on sick leave, 
and on the 16th of November Col. George also 
started for Minnesota with a surgeon's certificate 
of disability and sixty days' leave of absence. 
About the 1st of November the new line of supplies 
by the Tennessee river from Bridgeport was secured 
and opened, and soon afterwards full rations and 
issues of clothing and camp equipage were realized, 
to our great comfort and relief 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 117 

The topography about Chattanooga is peculiar 
and picturesque at all times. It was especially 
interesting when occupied by the opposing armies. 
In the day time the enemy could look down upon 
us in and about the city from the surrounding and 
commanding heights of Mission Ridge, Orchard 
Knob and Lookout mountain, and doubtless 
amused themselves in their idle hours in watching 
our movements and speculating when they should 
close in upon us and capture us. We in turn could 
with the naked eye trace their intrenched lines and 
note the location of their big guns and field bat- 
teries, and with field glasses could see their men 
whenever they appeared in or in front of their lines. 

But at night, when the grand semi-circle was 
lighted up with the enemj^'s little camp fires, whose 
light was continually intermitted by the squads of 
shivering, half clothed rebels standing and moving 
around them, the spectacle was one we never tired 
of watching. Nearly every evening the signal 
torches on Lookout mountain and on Mission Ridge 
were flashing messages to each other over our 
heads and across the valley. Our signal officers 
soon picked up their code, and so Bragg's messages 
were given to Thomas and Grant as promptly as 
to Hardee and Breckinridge. Occasionally a big 
gun on Lookout mountain would open out in a 
flash like the full moon, and then we suddenly 
became interested in locating the fall of the shell, 
though the chances were a million to one that it 
would not strike anyone's particular position. But 
as soon as the supply problem was solved the 
preparations for another battle were energetically 



118 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

pushed, until on the 22nd of November all was 
ready. On the 23rd the Army of the Cumberland 
moved out by divisions, in battle array, in the 
open space between the opposing intrenched lines 
east of the cit3% the men carrying three days' 
rations and one hundred cartridges each. 

This movement was in plain vsight of the enemy 
of course, but no special preparations seem to have 
been made to oppose it. Some of the prisoners said 
afterwards that they supposed a grand review was 
to take place and others that the "Yanks" were 
out of wood again and were going to take in a 
fresh supply. By a quick rush in the afternoon our 
lines were advanced, capturing the enemy's in- 
trenched lines on Orchard Knob and along the range 
of hills connected with it. During the night Sher- 
man's army crossed the river above Chattanooga, 
and next morning got into position for attacking 
the north end of Mission Ridge, while Hooker's 
army got ready for an assault on the north end of 
Lookout mountain. 

Hooker's attack was made on the morning of 
the 24th, and was so successful that about noon 
his troops appeared coming around the nose of the 
mountain into plain view from Chattanooga, driv- 
ing the enemy before them. 

Rain and mist soon hid the contending forces 
from our sight, but w^e could distinctly hear the 
musketry and so trace the advance of our troops 
as the "battle above the clouds" went on. By 
night fall the mist had cleared away and the two 
opposing lines could be located and observed by the 
flashes of the muskets, which lighted the slopes of 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 119 

the mountain like swarms of fire flies. The contest 
ended about 9 o'clock p. m., and in the night the 
enemy abandoned the mountain altogether, crossing 
the valley and reinforcing their lines on Mission 
Ridge. 

Sherman's attack was made about noon and 
was obstinately resisted. He did not make much 
progress though he kept at the enemy all day, 
compelling him to reinforce that part of his line 
heavily. 

On the 25th Sherman renewed his attack on the 
enemy's extreme right, at the north end of the ridge, 
while Hooker descended into the Chattanooga 
valley and directed his march towards the enemy's 
left, at the Rossville Gap. The enemy in his hasty 
retreat had destroj^ed the bridge over the Chatta- 
nooga creek and Hooker had to replace it, which 
delayed his arrival at Rossville until about 3 
o'clock P. M. 

Meantime the enemy was marching troops north- 
ward along the narrow roadway on the crest of 
Mission Ridge, to strengthen his right against 
Sherman, and about noon our division was ordered 
to our left to report to him. After marching about 
two miles to reach his position it appeared that he 
had all the troops that he could use, and we were 
ordered back to form as the left division of the 
army of the Cumberland, then in position facing 
Mission Ridge. 

Here our l)rigade occupied the center of the 
division, the first (Turchin's) being on our right, 
and the third (Phelps') on our left. Our own 
brigade was formed for battle in two lines, of three 



120 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

regiments each, with the 2nd Minnesota regiment 
about three hundred yards in advance and covering 
the entire brigade front, w^ith two companies 
deployed as skirmishers and six companies as 
reserve (companies "E" and "G" being on detached 
service). 

The official report of the regimental commander, 
written on the 30th of November, 1863, describes 
the further movements of the regiment as follows, 
the entire report being quoted here: 

"Headquarters 2nd Regt., Minn. Vols., 

Chattanooga, Tenn., Nov. 30th, 1863. 
Capt. J. R. Beatty, A. A. A. G. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 
14th A. C. 

Captain : In response to eircular instructions of this 
date from brigade headquarters, I have the honor to submit 
the following report of the part taken by the 2nd Minnesota 
Infy. Vols, in the operations against the enemy during the 
week commencing November 23rd, 1863. 

On Monday the 23rd inst. at 3 o'clock p. M.,the regiment 
marched from its encampment in Chattanooga with the 
other regiments comprising the 2nd brigade, with three 
days rations and one hundred rounds of ammunition per 
man, and w^as placed in line of battle about half a mile 
distant from and in front or south of Fort Negley. 

The regiment remained in position here until noon of 
Wednesday the 25th, when with the brigade it marched to 
the left, taking a position to the east of, and about a mile 
distant from Fort Wood, and facing the enemy's positions 
at the foot of and on the crest of Mis'sion Ridge. 

Here the regiment was advanced with two companies 
deployed, for the purpose of covering the brigade in its for- 
mation and movement towards the enemy's works. 

The brigade being formed, a general advance was com- 
menced at 3 o'clock P. M. and continued for a distance of 
about three-fourths of a mile without opposition, when the 
deployed companies reached the eastern or further edge of a 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 121 

strip of woods and came in full view of the enemy's works; 
the remaining companies being about 150 yards in rear of 
the deplo3-ed line and the remaining six regiments of the 
brigade about 300 yards still further back and partially 
concealed from the enemy's view by the woods in front of 
them. 

Immediately in front of the deployed line lay an open field, 
the ground descending for a short distance to a small creek, 
and beyond it rising graduall3' for a distance of about a 
quarter of a mile to the crest of a low secondary ridge run- 
ning parallel to, and about a quarter of a mile distant from 
the foot of Mission Ridge. Alongthe crest of this secondary 
ridge was a breastwork of logs, occupied as the front line 
of the enemy's defences by two regiments or battalions of 
infantry. Be3'ond it the ground descended with an easy 
slope, for a distance of three or four hundred yards to the 
foot of the main or Mission Ridge, which rises thence with 
a slope, gradual at first, but increasing in abruptness 
tOY^^ards the top, to a height of five or six hundred feet. 
Along the crest of Mission Ridge were the main defences of 
the enemy, consisting of a breastwork of logs, fully manned 
with infantry, and with artillery posted on the more com- 
manding points in sections of two guns each at intervals of 
from one to two hundred yards. 

The artillery thus placed swept with direct and crossfire 
the whole space between the ridges mentioned, and also the 
open field across which we had to advance upon the first 
breastwork. 

In the valley between the main and secondary' ridges were 
the enemy's encampments, the huts mostl3^ hidden from our 
view by the smaller ridge and the breastworks in front of 
them. 

The space between the ridges had been covered with 
woods, but, except the steepest and highest parts of the 
main ridge, where the smaller trees had been felled and 
"entangled" as an obstacle, the timber had been recently 
cut away and used in the construction of huts and breast- 
works. 



122 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

After remaining in front of this part of the enemy's hne 
for some twenty minutes, I received an order from Col. Van 
Derveer commanding the brigade, to deploy my entire com- 
mand and advance upon the first line of breastworks, to 
seize and occupy it if possible ; if repulsed to fall back on 
the brigade. 

The men were briefly informed of the desperate service 
required of them, and instructed to withhold their fire, and 
to move steadily forward until the work was gained, and 
then defend it to the utmost. 

The reserve companies were then deployed and with 
bayonets fixed the whole line commenced the advance. The 
enemy opened fire with musketry from the breastworks and 
artillery from the main ridge as soon as our line emerged 
from the woods, but in the face of both the men moved 
silently and steadily forward, across the creek, and up the 
slope, until within about one hundred paces of the breast- 
work, when, as the pace was quickened, the etiemy broke 
from behind the work and ran in some confusion down the 
slope into and beyond their camps, where taking cover 
behind the stumps and among the huts they opened a brisk 
fire on us again as soon as we gained and occupied the 
breastwork. 

Our line, now partialh' sheltered by the work, returned 
the fire with such effect as soon to drive the enemy out of 
the valley and up the slope of the main ridge, beyond the 
range of our rifles. 

Our loss in this attack was severe, though probably 
much less than would have been suffered by troops advanc- 
ing upon the work in regular order of battle. Fourteen 
prisoners were taken in this breastwork. 

About twenty minutes after the capture of the first work, 
the brigade advanced from the woods, and on arriving at 
the work halted for a few minutes, when the order was 
given for a general assault upon the enemy's defences on 
Mission Ridge. 

My regiment moved forward with the others of the 
brigade, assembling on the colors as far as it was possible 
on the way, until in ascending the steepest part of the slope, 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 123 

where every man had to find o^ clear his own way through 
the entanglement, in the face of a terrible fire of musketry 
and artillery, the men of the different regiments of the 
brigade became generally intermingled, and when the 
brigade finally crowned the enemy's works at the crest of 
the ridge, the regimental and even the company organiza- 
tions had become completeU' merged in a crowd of gallant 
and enthusiastic men, who swarmed over the breastworks 
and charged the defenders with such promptness and vigor 
that the enemy broke and fled, leaving their artillery "in 
battery," and barely getting away a portion of the caissons 
and limbers. Six twelve-pounder Napoleon guns were thus 
captured by our brigade, two of them by the men of my 
regiment. 

Hardly had a lodgment been gained in the works when 
the enemy's reserves made a furious counter-attack upon 
our men, yet in confusion. This attack was promptly met 
by a charge en masse by the crowd, which, after a few 
minutes of desperate hand-to-hand fighting, cleared the 
ridge, leaving the place in our undisputed possession, with 
between two and three hundred prisoners captured in the 
melee. 

The captured artillery was turned upon the retreating 
enem3' and manned by volunteers from the different regi- 
ments, but darkness soon closed over the field and the firing 
ceased. 

The regiments were assembled, and after collecting and 
caring for the dead and woimded, we bivouacked for the 
night. 

During the operations here recounted, al30ut 150 men of 
my regiment, including two entire companies, "F" and 
"G," were on detached service, leaving but fifteen officers 
and 170 men, 185 in all, ])resent for duty. Of these, one 
commissioned officer was killed and three wounded, and 
four enlisted men were killed, and thirty-one wounded; 
total of casvialties, thirty-nine, or a fraction more than 
twenty-one per cent of the number engaged. Three of 
the wounded have since died. 



124 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

The ammunition expended averaged fifty-two rounds 
per man. Of seven non-commissioned officers in the color 
guard, all but one were killed or wounded, the color lance 
was cut off by a fragment of shell, and the field torn out of 
the colors by another. 

On the morning of the 26th we drew rations for four 
days, and at noon marched in pursuit of the retiring enemj^ 
a distance of about eight miles, to the crossing of Chica- 
mauga creek by the Rossville and Graysville road, where 
we bivouacked for the night. 

On the 27th, at 4 o'clock A. m., we marched again, pass- 
ing through Graysville and arriving at Ringgold, Ga., about 
10 o'clock A. M., a distance of about eleven miles. 

Here an engagement with the rear guard of the enemy 
was in progress, and we were formed in line of battle in 
readiness to act as occasion might require. 

At noon the enem}^ retired, and at night we bivouacked, 
remaining in the same position until noon of the 29th, when 
we marched for Chattanooga, arriving at 6 p. m., a distance 
of eighteen miles. 

Of the conduct of the officers and men of the regiment, 
under the hardships and privations of the week's campaign 
in severe and inclement weather, and with insufficient 
clothing, and scanty rations, and especially of their gallant 
bearing under fire in the operations of Wednesday, I am 
incompetent to speak in terms that would do them justice. 

The regiment being brought into action, deplo3'ed as 
skirmishers, there was better scope for individual acts of 
heroism or of cowardice, than would otherwise have been 
afforded ; while I witnessed many of the former, 1 am proud 
to say that none of the latter have come to my knowledge. 

A list of casualties is herewith transmitted. 

I am, Captain, very respectfully. 

Your most obedient servant, 

J. W. Bishop, 
Leiut. Col., Com'd'g 2nd Minn. Vols." 

The brigade commander, Col. Ferdinand Van 
Derveer, in his official report states his total force 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 125 

engaged at 1,679 officers and men, and his total 
casualties at 161 killed and wounded. 

Separating the 2nd Minnesota' force and casualty 
reports from those of the Brigade, we find that the 
average loss of the other six regiments was a little 
more than eight per cent, while that of the 2nd 
was, as before stated, over twenty-one per cent. This 
disparity followed naturally from the brigade com- 
mander's judicious plan for the attack, which assigned 
to our regiment the duty of carrying the first line 
of breast works "if we could " before exposing the 
other six regiments to the enemy's fire. Doubtless 
the aggregate loss in the brigade would have been 
much greater had the attack been made by the 
whole force, and doubtless, also, the loss in our own 
regiment would have been greater and our attack 
would have failed, had not our men kept their nerve 
and their wind and their cartridges throughout 
their steady advance across the open field, reserving 
all for the final rush and contest. 

The brigade commander acknowledged the gal- 
lant service of the regiment in the following 
language, which is quoted from his official report : 
"Especial credit is due Lieut. Col. Bishop for the 
"management of his regiment when skirmishing in 
"front of the brigade, and the gallant manner in 
"which his command carried the rifle pits at the 
"foot of the ridge." 

There has been a great deal of discussion as to 
who, if any one, ordered the advance from the 
first line of breast works, up the main ridge. Gen. 
Grant is said to have ordered the advance to the 
first line. It is further said that he was surprised 



126 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

and angry to see the general line of battle climbing 
over the first line of breastworks and moving 
toward and up the slope, and that he sharply 
notified Gen. Thomas that somebody would be held 
to account for it ; evidentW he did not think the 
assault could possibly succeed. 

When we got possession of the first line we found 
that while to the enemy, standing in a ditch on 
their side of the work, it was a breast high pro- 
tection, to us on the other side, it was only knee 
high and no protection at all against the musketry 
and canister that rained down upon us from the 
crest of the ridge. We could not go back and we 
could not stay there, and without any definite 
orders our men began to scatter out toward the 
front, taking such casual shelter as the stumps and 
old huts afforded, while working up towards the 
foot of the main ridge. 

While this was going on, and w^hen every one 
could see that we ought to move at least to the 
actual foot of the slope, where the enemy's artillery 
could not reach us except by crossfire, Gen. 
Baird, commanding our division, said: "Let the 
men go on up the ridge," and they went; the field 
officers dismounted, as the slope was there im- 
practicable for horses, and presently the whole 
Army of the Cumberland hung at the foot of that 
ridge like a blue fringe a mile and a half long. 
With w^hat expectancy must Grant and Thomas 
have watched that slow and toilsome, but sure 
and steady moving up of that line of battle until 
they could see the colors planted on the log 
breastworks along the crest, the boys in blue 



Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 127 

tumbling over it, and the guns turned upon the 
routed eneiny. The enemy appeared to be astonished 
and disconcerted at our movement up the main 
ridge, and they fired wildly, both infantry and 
artillery, so that after we reached the foot of the 
slope we had but few casualties. If the defenders 
had done their duty with coolness and courage, 
everj^ man of us would have been shot on the 
slope or driven back to the foot of it. 

It seldom happens, ho\vever, that two lines of 
battle face each other with equal nerve and 
determination ; when one line insists on staying or 
advancing, the other gives way. In this case we 
wanted that ridge and believed that we could and 
would take it, and did ; while the enemy, having 
just seen us take the first line, and knowing 
Hooker's troops were approaching on their left 
and Sherman's on their right, seemed to be con- 
vinced that we would take the crest also, and they 
lost their courage and gave it up without half 
defending it. [See Appendix Nos. 21, 22 find 23.) 



128 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

CHAPTER X. 
"VETERANIZING." 

Having returned to our camp on Hospital Hill 
in Chattanooga on the evening of the 29th of 
of November, w^e enjoyed a comfortable night's 
rest under shelter, after the week of bivouacking, 
marching and fighting. On the 30th, Companies 
"F" and "G," having been on detached service 
cutting timber for and aiding in construction of 
bridges and pontoons, rejoined the regiment. 

The weather was getting cold and wintry, but 
with fair supplies of clothing, blankets and food, 
and with comfortable huts and plenty of fuel, 
the situation was quite tolerable. The enemy, 
some twenty miles away, seemed quite willing to 
let and be let alone. About the 10th of December 
large details were sent out to the field of Cliica- 
mauga to gather and bury the dead, who had thus 
far been neglected. Major Davis returned from 
sick leave on the 15th, bringing a well filled chest 
of provisions for the field and staff mess, and 
various other luxuries and comforts, which were 
much appreciated. The "F. and S." of the 9th 
Ohio were invited in, and we made a jolly night 
of it. 

About this date the announcement was received 
from the war department that regiments having 
been in service two years or more were invited to 
re-enlist for three years, and upon so re-enlisting 
would be vSent home on thirty days' furlough. This 



"Veteranizing." 129 

announcement was eminently wise and timely under 
the circumstances. 

The three years' term of many of the regiments 
would expire in the summer of 1864, and it had 
become evident that the war would not be ended 
within that term. New recruits and new regiments 
were coming out slowly, and it had moreover come 
to be understood that a veteran regiment was, in 
efficiency, much more than equal to a new and 
inexperienced one. The proposition was read to 
the regiment at dress parade, and the men were 
briefly informed by the Lieutenant Colonel com- 
manding that for himself he intended to continue 
in service to the end of the war, if he should live 
that long; that the question of re-enlistment was 
a personal one, that every man should, with due 
consideration, decide for himself, and that having 
so decided, his position should be respected what- 
ever his decision might be, and that there should 
be no distinction or discrimination made or per- 
mitted in the regiment between the men who did 
and those who did not re-enlist, every man being 
expected to do his own dut\^ faithfully to the end 
of his engagement. 

The question was taken up by the men, and a 
good deal of earnest discussion was had among 
them during the next ten days. They were, after 
two and a half years of service, perfectly familiar 
with the restraints and hardships and dangers of 
war, and were not to be enticed into re-enlistment 
ignorantly. They longed to return to their homes 
in peace, but they were as loyal and patriotic as 
when they first responded to the Call to Arms, and 



130 Thf; Story of the Second Regiment 

they well knew that their services were as much 
needed and more efficient and valuable than thev 
were in '61. 

While the enlisted men were considering' the 
matter, a question arose as to the intention of the 
War Department with regard to the commissioned 
officers, they having been mustered anew for three 
years at each promotion, many of them within a 
few months. ("Officers in service whose regiments 
"or companies may re-enlist in accordance with the 
"provisions of this order before the expiration of 
"their present term, shall have their commissions 
"continued, so as to preserve their date of rank as 
"fixed by their original muster into the United 
"States Service." Par. ix, A. G. O., Gen. Ord. No. 
191 — 1863.) The proposition of the government 
(see quotation above) w^as silent or at least 
obscure as to this, and on the 19th the regimental 
commander visited Gen. Thomas' headquarters to 
get an explanation. After some discussion he was 
instructed that no re-enlistment was expected of 
the officers whose companies or regiments might 
veteranize, each officer having to serve three years 
from date of his last muster unless sooner dis- 
charged, and he was instructed, in case his regiment 
re-enlisted, to assign such officers as he might select 
to remain with the non-veterans and to take the 
others home with the regiment to be furloughed. 
Later on, it was held that officers must re-enlist 
for three years like the men, to entitle them to go 
home with their regiments on "veteran furlough," 
and those declining the re-enlistment and furlough 
would be entitled to discharge, as the enlisted men 



' Veteranizing." 131 

were, at the expiration of three years from their 
original enlistment. This ruling, however, was not 
arrived at until after our departure for the North, 
and was not made known to us until after our 
return from "veteran furlough." It made trouble 
for some of our officers, as will appear in the next 
chapter. 

On the 25th of December the regiment was 
reported at headquarters as re-enlisted; eighty per 
per cent (about 300 men) having so decided. This 
was one of the first regiments in the army of the 
Cumberland to so re-enlist, but several days elapsed 
before the proper rolls could be obtained and made 
ready for the muster out and in, which took place 
on the 29th of December. Meantime, as the writer 
was informed, two other regiments were got ready 
and mustered ahead of it. 

The paj-ment of the troops and procuring trans- 
portation and other preparations for going home 
consumed several days. The non-veterans, number- 
ing about seventy-five men, were formed into a 
temporary company, and Capt. John Moulton, of 
Company "D," Lieut. H. V. Rumohr, of Company 
"G," and Lieut. M. Thoeny, of Company "C," 
were detailed to remain with them. This detach- 
ment was assigned to duty, during the absence 
of the regiment, as provost guard at division 
headquarters. 

On the 8th of January, 1864, the regiment 
embarked at 8 o'clock in the morning, on the small 
steamers Dunbar and Kingston, and arrived at 
Bridgeport in the afternoon, distance about forty 
miles by river. Here six companies were loaded into 



132 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

box cars of a train supposed to be ready to start 
for Nashville, and the other four companies were 
assigned to follow on another train with like 
accommodations. After a leisurely wait, without any 
apparent reason for it, the first train started at 11 
o'clock p. M., and arrived at Nashville at noon next 
day; while the next train started at 4:30 next 
morning, and arrived at Nashville in the evening. 
This trip without exercise or fire or warm food, in 
the mid-v^inter, was a pretty severe one, but we 
were yet in the war country and going home, 
and there was little grumbling or complaint. 

At Nashville we were quartered in a vacant 
female seminary building, and subjected to another 
tedious wait of four days for transportation north- 
ward. The boys were, however, comfortably housed 
and fed, and had libert}'^ to go about the cit^' as 
they pleased within certain hours. At 7 p. m., on 
the 14th, a train of empty box cars was assigned 
to us, in which yve had another cold and uncom- 
fortable journey of eighteen hours, arriving at 
Louisville about noon on the 15th, and were 
assigned quarters in the military barracks. Here 
^vas fire and shelter and food, and the boj's were 
just getting to feel warm and happy again when a 
detachment of the provost guard appeared, with 
orders to permit none of our men to go out until 
we w^ere ready to leave the city. These orders, it 
appeared, were given by the post commander, in the 
fear, no doubt, that a regiment of veteran soldiers, 
just arrived fi-om the field of war, would sack the 
city if not put under restraint. From our point of 
view, the proceeding w^as an outrage not to be 



"Veteranizing." 133 

submitted to for a moment, and a vigorous protest 
was entered by the regimental commander, who in 
reporting at post headquarters, announced himself 
as responsible for the conduct of his men in Louis- 
ville as elsewhere, and demanded for them the 
absolute freedom of the city with all the liberty 
that any citizen could have; that none of them 
should be molested or restrained by the provost 
guard except for crime or disorderly conduct ; that 
the uniform of a veteran soldier should entitle him 
to the respect and gratitude of all loyal people every- 
where and especially of other soldiers, including post 
commanders and provost guards. These demands 
were all fully conceded, after a brief argument, and 
it is now a pleasant reflection that the conduct of 
the men was such as to fully justify all that was 
claimed and obtained for them. 

Here all needed clothing was supplied for our 
midwinter trip to Minnesota, and we took advan- 
tage of this opportunity to "turn in" our old 
Enfield muskets, which we had been obliged to 
carry since ovu" second equipment. Arrangements 
having been made for this, we had a parade march 
on the 17th from the barracks to the ordnance 
building, carrying for the last time the arms and 
ecpiipments with which we had fought Tullahoma 
and Chicamauga and Mission Ridge. Many of the 
men were loth to part with them, but generally 
the expectation of getting new and better arms on 
our return, was agreeably entertained. The arms 
were stacked, the cartridge boxes unslung and 
hung on the bayonets, and we returned to the 
barracks "4-0 rounds" lighter and feeling perhaps 



134 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

more like " fiirloughed " men than before. Our 
orders for transportation to Chicago were here 
obtained over the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago 
Railroad upon the assurance of the superintendent 
that we should have comfortable coaches and a 
quick passage. He at first thought box cars were 
good enough for soldiers, but we had had enough 
of that sort when no better could be had, and now 
insisted upon proper transportation, as it was paid 
for and we had a right to it. Finally, we were 
notified that on Monday morning, the 18th of 
January, our train would be ready and crossed the 
Ohio river to the New Albany depot to find a train 
of box and cattle cars, some of them bedded six 
inches deep with frozen dung, backed down to the 
platform for our accommodation. The superin- 
tendent ^vas conveniently absent, but he was in- 
formed by telegraph that the cattle train would 
not answer our purpose and that we would return 
to Louisville and ask for transportation by some 
other line if passenger coaches were not promptly 
provided as promised. 

The weather was intensely cold, with wind and 
driving snow, and it was a shameful thing to pro- 
pose to transport human beings in such weather 
and in such cars as were offered us. 

Some hustling was done for an hour or two and 
then a message came that the cattle cars were all 
a mistake and that coaches would be ready in the 
afternoon, and so we waited. About 5 o'clock the 
train was made ready and we started in warm, 
comfortable cars for Chicago, expecting to arrive 
there next morning. Such transportation as that 



"Veteranizing." 135 

would, however, have been too good for soldiers, 
and we found ourselves at 7 o'clock next morning 
within fifty or sixty miles of the Ohio river. The 
railroad company seemed to have no wood, no 
water, no competent emplo^^ees or superintendence, 
and we spent all that da}' and all the next night 
in alternately waiting in the sidings and in rushing 
over the main line at six or eight miles per hour. 
On Wednesday morning, thirty-eight hours from 
New Albany, our weary train arrived at Crawfords- 
ville, Indiana. We had outlived our going home 
enthusiasm and jollity, and now onl^^ hoped that 
we might reach Chicago perhaps before we 
should perish of starvation or old age. Expecting 
here the customary wait of an hour or two at 
stations we began to climb out of the cars to shake 
the aches out of our benumbed legs and help wood 
up the engine as usual. But, — had we broken into 
heaven, or what? Here were a hundred genial 
faces glowing with welcome, a hundred voices 
cheering the veterans, the air filled with hats and 
fluttering handkerchiefs. The commander was in- 
formed that breakfast was read}- in the depot ; 
would he please bring in his men. The bugle called 
."attention," the ranks were quickly formed, and 
the regiment marched in and down either side of 
the long tables loaded with "a feast fit for the 
gods." The ladies filled the cups with hot coffee, 
with cream, and smiles and pleasant words, \vhile 
the gentlemen urged us to "eat hearty, boys, you are 
more than welcome." These generous and hospitable 
])eo])le had, it seemed, spent the small hours of the 
cold winter morning in ]:)reparing this breakfast 



136 Thk Story of the Second Regiment. 

and in tracing bj telegraph our uncertain approach, 
so as to have it hot and read^^ on our arrival. 

Nothing could have been more opportune or more 
acceptable, as since the morning of the 18th we 
had lived on hardtack and raw bacon, with tank 
water. Breakfast over, our band plaj^ed some of 
the popular arm}' music, while the officers and men 
said all the gracious things they could think of 
in acknowledgement of the kind and profuse hos- 
pitality; then the commander formally tendered the 
thanks of himself and his regiment, the boys gave 
three hearty cheers for the ladies of Crawfordsville, 
and they in turn assembled on the platform and 
sang "Rally 'round the Flag, Boys," as we 
resumed our places in the cars. That Craw^fords- 
ville breakfast always has been and always will 
be gratefully remembered b\^ the old boys of the 
2nd regiment as long as they shall remember any- 
thing. Our progress thence to Chicago was some- 
what more speedy, onh'^ 24 hours being consumed 
in the 150 miles, arriving there on the morning of 
the 21st. After breakfast at the Soldiers' Home, 
we started again by rail for La Crosse, arriving 
there at 3 p. m. on the 22nd, where we were again 
hospitably entertained. Hence forward our trans- 
portation was to be in sleighs by the stage 
company, but only conveyances for half the regi- 
ment w^ere ready; Major Davis, with the band and 
four companies were forwarded the same, evening, 
and arrived at St. Paul early Sunday morning, the 
24th of January, 140 miles in 28 hours, which was 
considerably better time than we had made on the 
New Albanv Railroad. 



" Vktekamzing." 137 

The Lieutenant Colonel commanding, with the 
remaining six companies, left La Crosse twelve 
hours later and, except three companies, "A," "B" 
and "C," furloughed at Winona, arrived at St. 
Paul Sunday evening. 

The ladies of Winona gave a hot breakfast to 
the first detachment and a supper to the second, 
and the people of all the river towns along the 
route improved every opportunity to sho\v the 
boys they were welcome. 

On Monday, the 25th, the men dispersed for 
their homes, each with thirty days' leave of 
absence, which time they doubtless enjoyed as they 
deserved to. Most of the companies had formal 
public receptions by their friends on or soon after 
arrival home. Among these was. Company "A," 
originally commanded by the writer, who was a 
guest at their reception at Chatfield on the 5th of 
February, 1864. His reply to a formal address of 
welcome b}^ Hon. R. A. Jones, is here given as then 
reported by the "Chatfield Democrat" as an expres- 
sion made at the time of the spirit that had moved 
the veterans to re-enlistment : 

ADDRESS. 
Mr. Chairman. Ladies and Gentlemen: 

In behalf of tlie Chatfield Guards, I thank a'ou for the 
kind words of welcome with which you have greeted us 
here to-day. We prize them as expressions of your personal 
good 'will as old friends and fellow citizens, and we value 
them as they indicate your sympathy with our hardships 
and your ajjproval of our conduct as soldiers, but more 
than all wc cherish and treasure them up as the^- assure us 
that you recognize the justice of the cause and the sacred- 
ness of the principles in the defense in w^hichwe are engaged. 



138 The Stokv of the Second Regiment. 

When traitors in arms menaced and at last openly and 
wantonly assailed the government and the flag, which from 
childhood we had been taught to respect and revere, and 
under which we, as a people, had become great and glorious 
and prosperous and happy be\'ond all precedent in histor3^ 
we could have done no less than to pledge, as we did, our 
best efl'orts and if need be our lives in their defense. 

After some thirt}^ months of service in the field, a few of 
the one hundred men whom you sent out with your fervent 
blessing in the summer of 1861 have returned to \^ou on 
furlough. 

Emancipated for a brief season from the stern restraints 
and discipline of war, the}' are to-day enjoying for the first 
time in all those months, the absolute personal freedom of 
American citizens. 

The\- have exchanged the privations and hardships and 
dangers of a soldier's life for the plenty and comfort and 
peace and safety of life at home; they come from a country 
whose fields are Iffid waste, and whose society is disorgan- 
ized and well nigh destroyed by the blighting breath of war, 
to their own loved homes, where industr}' finds employment 
in all the avocations of civilized life, and where all the 
virtues and graces that make society a blessing to mankind, 
are in full and healthy play. While you welcome the 
returned, honor the absent and revere the memory of those 
who will return no more, inay we who enjoy this brief 
respite from the arduous duties of the field, find ourselves 
at its close, encouraged in spirit and strengthened in num- 
bers for the work ^^et unfinished, b}- our intercourse and 
association with vou here at home. 

Having signified our own faith in the righteousness and 
ultimate and speedy sviccess of our cause by renewing our 
enlistment in the service, we appeal to you, to every man 
and woman who has an interest in society or in the perpetu- 
ation of the blessings of good government, to aid us in 
recruiting our ranks from those who have thus far been 
spared the privations and hardships of the field. You can- 
not love your homes better, you cannot value the blessings 
of peace higher than do we, so long exiled from them. 



" V?:t?:ranizing." 139 

Gladly' would we put off the harness of war and return to 
our homes and to our farms and workshops. Life in the 
tented held has not, for us, any such attraction as could 
induce us to accept it of choice. No, far from this. We 
have re-enlisted not that wc love war, or that we are 
enamored with the roving, adventurous life of a soldier, but 
rather because we love peace and would aid in its speedy 
restoration. 

We have seen of war all we desire to see, except the end. 

Come, join with vis then in the final struggle, which shall, 
with the blessingof God, crush the last semblance of vitality 
from the already almost prostrate rebellion. 

The rebel authorities are making no provision for any 
campaign beyond the present one. Everj^ able bodied man 
within their reach is now bA' the conscript law^ a soldier. 
Thej' are marshaling in the field for the last great effort, all 
their available forces in the full knowledge that to fail now 
is to fail completely and finally. 

Let us meet them with a like appreciation of the occa- 
sion, and before another winter shall close upon us, the 
military power of the rebellion must be destro3'ed. 

This done, it dies, for it has no longer an^^ sympathy or 
respect in the hearts of the people it has so fearfull}' cursed. 

Thisdone,and the peopleemancipated from thecruel and 
odious t\-rann3- which has so long fettered them, will them- 
selves establish the authorit3'of law and order and give the 
old flag to the breeze in every state from Virginia to Texas. 

While we all say "God speed the da^'," let each of us 
acquit himself of his own personal duty in the great work 
of restoration, remembering that through sacrifice and 
suffering lies the only road to the blessings wc so carnestK' 
seek. 

The officers, instead of receiving- furloughs, had 
been ordered to recruiting service, and were aided 
everywhere by the enlisted men, who all felt inter- 
ested in filling u]) the regiment, then reduced to 
less than half the standard strength. 

Headquarters were reopened at Fort Snelling on 



140 The Story op" the Second Regiment. 

the 25th of February, and as the men came in rapidly 
the regiment was mustered for inspection and pay 
on the 29th, showing besides the 300 veterans about 
150 recruits. 

In the afternoon of this day, on the invitation of 
the ladies of St. Anthon\% prominent among whom 
were Mrs. and Miss Van Cleve, the wife and 
daughter of our first Colonel, the regiment marched 
from the fort to that place, where a grand supper, 
reception and ball were given in its honor at the 
then vacant Winslow Hotel building. The ball 
lasted all night and ended with a hot breakfast at 
7 o'clock next morning, after which the boys 
marched back to the fort, eight miles, arriving 
quite rested and refreshed. That St. Anthony enter- 
tainment was another event that still warms the 
hearts of the old boys whenever they meet and talk 
of old war times. 

Two or three days now came of busy prepara- 
tion for returning to the front. Aided by the active 
influence of Gov. Stephen Miller, a complete outfit 
of new Springfield rifles, of uniform pattern and 
caliber with equipments complete, was obtained, 
clothing was issued and transportation ordered. 
On the 3rd of March the first detachment of 150 
men was started in coaches for La Crosse, another 
detachment followed on the 4th, and the remainder, 
except the band, on the 5th, all with orders to 
rendezvous at La Crosse. 

After a busy da_v on the 6th, the Lieutenant 
Colonel, staft' and band, left St. Paul on the morn- 
ing of the 7th, arrived at Winona at noon on the 
8th, where the ladies, who had been entertaining 



"Veteranizing." 141 

all our men as they passed down, had a warm 
dinner ready for us. They now requested that the 
band might remain over night and play for them 
at a concert to be given in aid of their association 
relief fund. This request, the}' were told, under 
the circumstances could not be refused, even if we 
had to stop the war to grant it, and the field and 
staff went on, leaving the band to follow next 
morning. Arriving at La Crosse, the ice was 
breaking up, and the crossing was a tedious work 
of considerable danger and difiiculty. It was 
accomplished, however, without accident on the 
9th and 10th, and at 3 a. m. on the 11th we 
started by railroad for Chicago. 

Col. George, who had left us at Chattanooga 
four months ago, rejoined the regiment here and 
assumed command. After breakfast in the Chicago 
Soldiers' Home, on the 12th, the regiment was 
forwarded in detachments to Louisville, the last 
arriving there early on the l(3th, and after a day's 
delay proceeded to Nashville, arriving Saturday 
morning, the 19th. The railroads were crowded 
with returning veteran regiments and supplies for 
the arni}^ at the front, and after waiting three 
days we got orders to march through to Chatta- 
nooga, and moving out of the city four miles, 
encamped in the afternoon of the 23rd. 

The march was uneventful — an easy one for the 
veterans, but a new and tough experience for the 
recruits. We arrived at Stevenson on the 5th of 
April, and climbing on top of a train of loaded box 
cars, |)roceeded thence by rail to Chattanooga, 
where we encamped on the (kh on Chattanooga 



142 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

creek, and reported our arrival to division head- 
quarters, then at Ringgold. On the 9th we resumed 
our march, and on the 10th rejoined our old 
brigade and division at Ringgold, Ga. Here we 
received a most hearty welcome from our non- 
veterans, v^ho now rejoined us, and from our old 
comrades of the other regiments. The 9th Ohio, 
informed of our approach, and knowing that all 
the unoccupied buildings in the town had already 
been demolished to build camps for the troops 
there, kindly went out the day before our arrival 
and pulled down a countr}^ church, that we might 
have lumber and brick on our camp ground on 
arrival. 

And here ended our veteran furlough. 



CHAPTER XI. 
THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 

At Ringgold we found the army comfortabh^ in 
camp. Trains were running pretty regularU^ bring- 
ing rations, forage, clothing, camp equipage and 
ammunition from Louisville and Nashville, but the 
daily consumption of so large an army was enorm- 
ous and the supplies accumulated slowly. Nearly 
every train brought also, on the roofs of the loaded 
cars, a veteran regiment returning from furlough. 

For us the next four weeks were full of business ; 
we had about 450 men present "for dut\'," one- 
third of them being new recruits without anj^ real 



The Atlanta CAiMPAicx. 143 

experience as soldiers except that gained in the 
march through from Nashville, which was of con- 
siderable value in putting them on their soldier legs. 
These men had to be taught to handle their arms 
and equipments, and instructed in guard and picket 
duty and in the school of the soldier, the company 
and the battaHon. They were distributed to the 
several companies and paired off with veterans as 
much as could be. Daily drill and exercise, forenoon 
and afternoon, with dress parade at "retreat" was 
the regular order, varied once a week by a regi- 
mental tour of picket duty in front of the enem^'. 

On the 29th of April our brigade made a recon- 
noisance to the front, on which we found and 
developed the enemy's line, returning, however, 
without casualties, after giving our recruits their 
first view of the men in grey. This was repeated 
on the 2nd of May, the brigade going seven miles 
to Tunnel Hill. 

On the 6th of May the regiments got ready for 
active work b}^ a careful inspection of men and 
arms and equipage. The sick and lame were sorted 
out and with all surplus baggage sent back to 
Chattanooga, the cartridge boxes always filled to 
"40 rounds," were carefully examined and the 
havresacks supplied with three days' rations, and 
the ammunition jind supjjly wagons loaded and 
packed ready to follow the troops. 

On the 7th the Atlanta campaign began — the 
famous hundred days of maneuvering and fighting, 
without an hour, by day or night, of absolute quiet, 
all over the field of operations. We broke camp at 
4 o'clock A. M. and the troops were soon in motion, 



144 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

arriving at Tunnel Hill (driving the enemy's skirm- 
ishers before us) at noon. Here the enemy was 
strongly intrenched and some hard fighting was 
done without dislodging him, our own regiment 
not being seriously engaged. Next day commenced 
the movement of McPherson's corps to the right 
and through Snake Creek gap to the enem^^'s left 
and rear, resulting in his evacuation of Dalton on 
the night of the 12th. Another three days of 
skirmishing and a flank movement to the right 
forced the evacuation of Resaca by the enemy on 
the night of the 15th. 

On the 16th we bivouacked at Resaca, on the 
17th at Calhoun and on the 18th passed through 
Adairsville, on the 19th we marched through Kings- 
ton and bivouacked beside the railroad near Cass- 
ville, where we remained three days. Here, on the 
21st, our long-time comrades of the Ninth Ohio 
were ordered to Cincinnati for muster-out, their 
three years' term having expired. Our men had 
spent most of the day in visiting and saying "good 
by" to them, and when they were ready to leave 
our regiment was formed to give them a parting 
"present arms" as thc}^ marched past our front, 
followed by three rousing cheers for the heroes and 
comrades of Mill Springs, Chicamauga and Mission 
Ridge. 

On the 23rd we marched four miles, forded the 
Etowa river, and six miles farther on bivouacked 
at Euharlie creek. For the next eight days we were 
in charge of trains in the rear of our general line 
of battle. On the 2nd of June we were ordered to 
the front, and coming up to the enemy's fortified 



The Atlanta Campaign. 145 

lines our brigade intrenched a parallel line in his 
presence and held it until the 5th, when he evacu- 
ated his position. It would be tedious to detail 
here the alternate moves, waits and fights of the 
next four weeks. Some part of our army was under 
fire all the time. So continuous was the uproar of 
musketry and cannon, near or remote, and so 
accustomed to it did we become, that we came to 
ignore it altogether unless actually engaged in it. 
Our men ate, slept, wrote letters, played cards and 
chuck-a-luck, washed and mended their clothes and 
polished their rifles in careless indifference until we 
ourselves were called out to make or repel an 
attack. If at any hour of the night the din of war 
would absoluteh^ cease the unwonted silence would 
awaken the sleeping soldiers to wonder what had 
happened. 

On the 18th of June it was our turn at the 
front. We moved at 9 a. m., in t' I'ain, and our 
skirmishers soon came to the crest of a low ridge 
in full view of the enemy's intrenchment, about 
300 or 400 yards away. It was well filled with 
infantry and artillery, and they were evidently 
quite ready to receive us, their skirmish line having 
been withdrawn to their breastworks. Our ridge 
commanded the enemy's line, and it seemed im- 
portant to occupy it. Presently, indeed, instruc- 
tions came from corjjs headquarters to our division 
to establish our line of battle on that ridge if 
possible, and in due time the order came to the 
2nd Minnesota to mark and entrench a line there 
for our brigade front. A skirmish line was detailed, 
and the men being carefully instructed by the 

10 



14.6 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Lieutenant Colonel, each one carrying a spade 
besides his gun, knapsack, etc., moved briskly up 
to and were hastily aligned along the crest. Then 
each man lying down flat with his gun by his side 
and his knapsack at his head, commenced excavat- 
ing a shallow ditch, throwing the earth up in 
front and working tov^ards his neighbor. After 
ten or fifteen minutes of lively work a second 
detail went out, and, taking the spades, continued 
the work while the first resumed their guns and 
rested. The enemy kept up a scattering infantry 
fire on us, but we were making good progress with 
no casualties, and would soon have had a contin- 
uous line intrenched. Suddenly' a six-gun battery 
came rushing up from behind us, and went into 
action on the ground we had been intrenching, 
nearh' running over some of our men who were 
working there. It was a showy, but an unfortun- 
ate and unnecessary exploit; did no good, and 
cost some valuable lives. The enemy's artillery 
immediately opened on it and on us every gun 
within range, and, the}' being well protected while 
this batter}' stood exposed, it got much the worst 
of the fight, and soon withdrew, having lost a 
good many men and horses and being generally 
knocked to pieces. Meantime Lieut. Jones was 
killed and eleven others of our regiment were 
wounded during the few minutes of artillery fight- 
ing, and the work of intrenching was necessarily 
suspended, the line being close under the muzzles 
of our batter}' while in action. It was resumed 
immediately after the battery withdrew, and the 
line was completed, but as the enemy continued 



The Atlanta Campaign. 147 

and increased his infantrj- firing, we were obliged 
to deploy a line to reply to it, which was done 
with such effect as to keep the enemy's heads down 
and prevent good aiming, so we had but few men 
hurt by their wild firing. 

Gen. O. O. Howard, in the "Century" for June, 
1887 (page 454), speaks of this affair as follows, 
being a witness of the concluding part of it : 
"Here I saw a feat the like of which never else- 
" where fell under my observation. Baird's division, 
"in a comparatively open field, put forth a heavy 
"skirmish line, which continued under a heavj^ fire 
"such a rapid fire of rifles as to keep down a 
"corresponding hostile line behind its w^ell con- 
"structed trenches, while the picks and shovels 
"behind the skirmishers fairly flew until a good 
"set of works was made four hundred yards off 
"and parallel to the enem^-'s." 

Our line established, w^e made it so uncomfort- 
able for the enem}^ that at night they abandoned 
their position, drawing back to a. new fortified 
line, with Kenesaw mountain as the centre and 
ke\' point, and extending from it east and south- 
east, west and southwest, covering Marietta and 
the railroad from there to Atlanta. Our army 
was immediatel}^ put in motion and closed up 
again to within eas}- musket range of the enemy's 
new position, our division being located in front 
of the mountain, on which several batteries had 
been posted. Our line was intrenched, the usual 
ditch and embankment being supj)lementcd by a 
breastwork of heavy logs, which, covered and 
protected by the earth in front, proved a good 



148 The Story of the Second Regiment 

protection from artillery fire. x\ll the ground in 
our vicinity was covered by the guns on the 
mountain, and for a day or two they kept it so 
warm with shot and shell as to confine us closely- 
to the breastworks ; but, when the enemy got 
tired wasting ammunition and ceased firing, our 
little tents were set and the space in the rear and 
near the breastworks was occupied by our men in 
comparative comfort, a watch being stationed to 
give warning whenever a puff of smoke appeared 
on the mountain. 

The enemy amused themselves two or three times 
a day by shelling our camps vigorously for a few 
minutes to see the "Yanks" run for the breast 
works. Here the muster out rolls were prepared and 
orders obtained for the discharge of our non- 
veterans, whose three years term w^as nearly 
expired. Col. George announced his intention to 
retire also at the end of his term, and received 
orders on the 22nd to go to Chattanooga on the 
23rd with the non-veterans, there to be mustered 
out. The Colonel's age and physical infirmity dis- 
qualified him for a hard campaign like this, but 
he persisted to the completion of his term and left 
us at last much to our regret and his own. 

About midnight on the 22nd our regiment was 
ordered to move about half a mile to the right to 
relieve another regiment there which w^as ordered 
elsewhere. It was a bright, still, moonlight night, 
and the enemy on the mountain was vigilant and 
in the habit of investigating with his artillery 
every suspicious movement, so the men were in- 
structed to move quietly, keeping their gun barrels 



The Atlanta Campaign. 149 

covered, all verbal orders and conversation to be 
omitted. Our movement was thus safely made, 
but, on our arrival, the commander of the regiment 
to be relieved woke up his men at long range b}^ 
shouting the regulation commands in a voice that 
could be easily heard by the enemy, who could 
also see the glimmer of their muskets in the moon- 
light, and before his men were ready to move a 
big round flash was seen on the mountain — a few 
seconds later another, right in our faces, with a 
deafening explosion, and six men at the head of 
our regiment la\^ mangled on the earth. The going 
regiment took to the woods without anj^ more 
formal orders, and our men took their places in the 
breastworks without au}^ further casualties, though 
a furious cannonade was kept up for half an hour 
or more. One of the men killed was our Sergt. Maj. 
P. G. Wheeler, who a few hours later would have 
gone to the rear to be discharged. It seemed very 
sad that after three years' faithful service without 
injury, he should fall in the last hours of his term. 

Next morning at daybreak Col. George and the 
one hundred and three non-veterans present with 
the regiment got ready to take leave of us, and 
with hearty good wishes and good-byes we parted 
with them "for three years or during the war." 

On the 27th our division was ])laced in reserve 
to Davis' division, which was ordered to assault 
the enemv's intrenched line. The attack was most 
gallanth' made, but failed, because the line was too 
strong and too well defended, and could not be 
carried. The loss in the attacking division was 



150 The Stokv of the Second Regiment. 

heavy, but in our division, not seriously under fire, 
there were but few casualties. 

On the 2nd of July a detachment of sevent\'-eight 
drafted men joined us from Minnesota, and were 
distributed among the companies. 

The enemy evacuated Kenesav^ during the night, 
retiring south of Marietta. 

On the 4th our brigade was ordered to garrison 
duty at Marietta, where we remained eight days. 
This was now the grand supply depot for the 
army, and we had not only to protect the place 
from probable cavalrj^ raids, but unload several 
trains a day of army supplies and reload them into 
wagons for the front. Our regiment was encamped 
on the beautiful lawn of ex-Gov. McDonald's home- 
stead, and with a comfortable camp, sufficient 
rations, and no marching or lighting to do, we 
enjoyed the week here notwithstanding the hard 
work and picket duty. The new men were mean- 
time kept busy learning the dut}- of soldiers. 

On the 13th our brigade marched nine miles to 
the front, rejoining the division, and next day 
another detachment of ninety-eight drafted men 
joined us. Here recommendations for promotions 
to fill vacant offices in the regiment were made 
and forwarded to the Governor of Minnesota. 
(See appendix No. 24-.) On the 15th our regiment 
was ordered back to Marietta to relieve the 20th 
Connecticut regiment as provost and depot guard. 
We continued on duty here for five weeks, our time 
busily occupied in guard and picket dut3\ in 
handling commissary and quartermasters' stores 



The Atlanta Campaign. 151 

and in instructing our 176 new men, who, being 
mingled in squads with the veterans, made rapid 
progress. 

On the 19th of August we marched again to the 
front and rejoined our brigade before Atlanta on 
the 20th. 

Now we were again in the enemy's immediate 
presence and our old experience of marching, fight- 
ing, intrenching and maneuvering was renewed and 
kept up until on the 30th, the final movement 
around the enemy's left flank began, culminating 
on the 1st of September in the battle of Jonesboro, 
fought and won by our 14th corps. Our brigade 
happened to be in the second line during the fight- 
ing, and had but three men wounded, none killed. 
The enemy was badly beaten and broken up in the 
battle, and about 3 o'clock next morning the Con- 
federate army evacuated Atlanta, setting fire to the 
storehouses containing their surplus ammunition 
and stores which, as we had broken the railroad, 
the}' could not move. The racket of exploding 
shells, distinctly heard at our bivouac, reminded us 
of the evacuation of Corinth, of which we had like 
audible notice, and we knew that at last Atlanta 
Avas ours. 

After remaining near Jonesboro two days we 
leisureh' marched back toward Atlanta, and en- 
camped near the city on the 8th of September. We 
had left Ringgold on the 7th of May with 451 
officers and men present. This number had been 
increased by recruits 176, returned from hospital 
or detached service, 67, and had been diminished by 
killed in battle, 4 ; wounded and sent to the hospital. 



152 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

16 ; sick and sent to the hospital, 113 ; discharged 
at expiration of service, 103; deserted, 3 ; transferred, 
2; dismissed, 7, leaving present for duty Sept. 7th 
446 officers and men. Not all the wounded went 
to the hospital. (See list of casualties Appendix 
No. 25.) 

While the regiment rests comfortably a few days 
at Atlanta a bit of unpleasant history may be 
briefl}^ given. Reference was made in the preceding 
chapter to the absence of any definite understand- 
ing at the time the regiment re-enlisted, as to what 
v^as to be done with, or by, the commissioned 
officers of companies or regiments whose enlisted 
men might "veteranize," and the instructions given 
to the regimental commander in our case, under 
which three officers were by him detailed to remain 
with the non-veterans and the others, except several 
sick and absent, w^ere taken to Minnesota with the 
regiment, and some of them placed on recruiting 
service during the furlough, on the theory that they 
w^ould not be held to have re-enlisted. After our 
return to the front we found that a ruling had 
been made that officers of veteran regiments who 
accompanied their regiments home on furlough 
would be held as re-enlisted from the date of the 
veteranizing, and officers declining the furlough 
would be entitled to discharge at the end of three 
years from the time of original entry into service. 
On the 16th of June Col. James George applied for 
the discharge of himself and eleven other officers 
and one hundred and one enlisted men, non-veterans, 
then with the regiment ( or in the division ) whose 
time of service would expire within the next month. 



The Atlanta Campaign. 153 

On the 18th one of these officers was killed in battle. 
On the 22nd of June orders were received for Col. 
George with the enlisted men, non-veterans, to go 
to Chatanooga for muster out. On the 29th, no 
orders as to the other officers who had applied with 
CoT. George for their discharge, having been received, 
six of them renewed their request for discharge at 
the expiration of their original terms (June 26th 
to July 8th), "or as soon thereafter as the exigen- 
cies of the service will permit." One of these men 
was a few days later wounded in action. Their 
second request was approved as the first had been, 
by the regimental and brigade commanders, on the 
ground that these officers accompanied the regiment 
to Minnesota on veteran furlough in January last 
before the order requiring officers to re-enlist, or 
retaining in the field those who declined to re-enlist, 
had been received, and upon the fm'ther ground 
that the regiment had been so much reduced by the 
discharge of non-veterans that the officers desiring 
discharge after having served their three years, 
could be now spared. 

The response was made to this request that the 
Department Commander had recommended the dis- 
missnl of these officers. A full explanation and 
protest was immediately made, and forwarded 
through intermediate headquarters to the War 
Department b}^ the regimental commander. The 
officers continued in the service, doing their duty 
gallantly and efficiently, until just after the smoke 
had lifted from the battle field of Jonesboro, an 
order was received from the War Department dis- 
honorably dismissing the six officers for "having. 



154 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

"whilst their commands were in front of the enemy 
"applied to be mustered out, after having availed 
"themselves of the furlough granted their regiment 
"as veteran volunteers." This order dated back to 
July 12th, thus covering with disgrace two months 
of faithful service in the enemy's presence, after 
their terms had expired. This order had to be, and 
w^as revoked afterwards, and the victims of it 
were honorably discharged as of such later dates as 
included the whole time actuals served ; but it 
was a cruel outrage that it ever should have been 
issued, even under misapprehension of the facts, for 
which the\^ were in no Avise responsible. 

The remainder of the month of October was 
occupied with the usual routine of camp life and 
duty, a great deal of attention being given to our 
recruits, who were rapidh^ becoming soldiers. 
Meantime many of the older regiments were, like 
ours, becoming reduced by the discharge of non- 
veterans at expiration of their original terms of 
three years ; and while all the loj^al states were 
raising and equipping additional troops to fill the 
quotas called for b\^ the President, most of the 
governors were organizing them into new regiments, 
which were sent to the front, in many cases, under 
field and company officers of little or no actual 
military experience. Such regiments were of little 
use in active service in the enemy's presence, 
while if the recruits had been distributed to the 
companies of the veteran regirhents the new men 
would, by association with the veterans and under 
the instruction and care of veteran officers, have 
soon become efficient and reliable. Gen. Geo. H. 



The Atlanta Campaign. 155 

Thomas, who had known our regiment, having it 
under his command for three \'ears, especially 
desired to have it filled up to standard strength, 
and about the 1st of October the writer, the 
Lieutenant Colonel, then commanding the regi- 
ment, received a special written request from him 
to the Governor (Stephen Miller) for the assignment 
of two hundred recruits with an order to present 
the requisition in person. Leaving the regiment in 
charge of Maj. C, S. Uline, he started immediately 
for Minnesota. 

Next da\' commenced the northward movement 
of Hood's army, and on the 4-th the regiment, with 
its division, began the tiresome tramp over the 
familiar ground of the last summer's campaign. 

The march was uneventful so far as our regi- 
ment was concerned ; it arrived at Gaylesville on 
the 21st, and moved thence to Rome on the 30th, 
and thence to Kingston on the 2nd of November. 

On the 4th our band master, R. G. Rhodes, 
arrived with a complete outfit of silver horns from 
Cincinnati. He had been sent from Atlanta for 
them, with our regimental fund, liberally supple- 
mented by private subscriptions by the officers of 
the regiment. We were all very proud of our band 
who had by faithful use of their old instruments 
well earned the better ones. 

Meantime the Lieutenant Colonel, after a tedious 
trip with many breaks and delays, had been to 
Minnesota, procured the assignment of eighty-eight 
men, all that there were then at Fort Snelling 
unassigned, and had got back to Chattanooga with 
them, just in time to take the last train thence to 



156 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

the front, arriving at Kingston at eleven o'clock in 
the evening of November 11th. The train was 
immediateh^ unloaded and returned northward, and 
at daybreak next norning the railroad and tele- 
graph lines were broken behind us and the troops 
started for Atlanta. 

Our regiment delayed a little to distribute our 
recruits and provide them with rations and ammu- 
nition, but marched at nine o'clock and rejoined 
our brigade at Altoona in the evening. 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 

Our communications northward by railroad and 
by telegraph had been severed behind us, and leav- 
ing our old commander, Gen. George H. Thomas, to 
take care of Tennessee and of Hood's armj^ we 
turned our faces southward and retraced the now 
familiar way to Atlanta. 

On the 14th of November we halted an hour or 
two at Marietta, where we had been on garrison 
dut}^ five weeks in the jjreceding summer. The 
once beautiful village had been sadly devastated 
by the passing hostile armies, and our old camps 
in the shaded lawns were hardly to be recognized. 

On the 15th we marched into and through 
Atlanta, encamping about two miles east of the 
city. Here we filled our cartridge boxes and 
haversacks, put on new shoes and clothing, loaded 



The March to the Sea. 157 

our wagon trains with ammunition and rations of 
coffee, sugar and hard tack, and disencumbered 
ourselves of all unnecessary baggage and equipage 
in preparation for the campaign ; of which the 
direction and the duration were not then definitely 
known even to the commander himself. The great 
buildings in Atlanta that had been used by the 
enemy for manufacturing and storing military- 
supplies, had been set on fire and the conflagration 
had spread over a great part of the town, there 
being neither men nor means to confine it. All 
that night, the burning city lit up the sky. and the 
exploding shells and cartridges kept up a noisy 
but harmless cannonade. 

Next morning, the IGtli, the 14th corps, with 
colors unfolded to the mild autumn breeze, and 
bands playing the inspiring martial music, filed 
out into the road and commenced the now historic 
"March to the Sea." Never marched an army 
more confident of success or more competent to 
achieve it. The men were mosth^ veterans of three 
years' service, accustomed to everything that 
happens to men in war, acquainted and satisfied 
with their commanders, and well sui)plied with 
those essentials not to be gjithcrcd in the cotmtry. 

In our own regiment the veterans and the recruits 
were about equal in number, but they had been so 
mingled in the companies and squads, iind the new 
men so well instructed b}^ the veterans, that they 
were quite competent to, take care of themselves 
and do any duty of the roldicr. 

Our course was eastward, parallel and near to 
the track of the Georgia railroad ; passing through 



158 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Decatur and near Stone mountain, we encamped 
early, after an easy march of 15 miles. In the next 
day's march we passed through Lithionia and 
Con\^ers. We halted at noon for lunch, and then 
our brigade wrecked two miles of the railroad 
track before resuming the march. 

This railroad unbuilding was thoroughl}^ and 
rapidly done, about as follows : Our regiment, 
having stacked arms and unslung knapsacks near 
the road, is formed in a single rank outside the 
track, facing inwards. The rail joints at each end 
of the line being opened, the men all seize the rail 
with their hands, and at the "Yo heave" command 
they all lift together, raising the rails and ties 
gradually up and higher and finally overturning 
the entire track. The rails are joined onW with 
the old style cast iron chairs, and in falling on its 
back the track is shaken up and loosened. The 
ties are now knocked off and piled upon the road- 
bed, cobhouse-wise, a few dry fence rails mixed in 
for kindling, the fire is started and the iron rails 
being laid across the piles are in a short time red 
hot at the centre. A lever and hook is now put 
on each end of each rail, and both ends are so 
turned in opposite directions and brought down 
to the ground as to give the rail at once a spiral 
twist and a Grecian bend along its middle third. 
Sometimes the boys w^ould give them an extra 
heating and wind them around the trees by the 
roadside, and at every mile-post the letters "U. S." 
in sixty-pound rails were set up to encourage the 
loyalty of those who might see and read. Our 
cavalr}^ having broken a bridge some miles ahead 



Thp: March to the Sea. 159 

of us, we found a locomotive and train of cars at 
Conyers ; they were unable to get away before our 
arrival — or afterwards. 

On the 18th we passed through Covington, a 
pretty village, and crossed Yellow^ river ; halted at 
noon for lunch and disintegrated our usual two 
miles of railroad track. 

Resuming the march we halted to rest by the 
roadside about 3 o'clock, near a spring, where 
several of our brigades had refreshed themselves in 
advance of us. Close b}' was a comfortable farm- 
house with several ladies in the wide veranda who 
watched the pranks of the soldiers with much 
apparent interest. Presently one of the men in our 
leading company noticed that the sods and earth 
upon which he was l3'ing had apparently been 
recently' disturbed. Drawling his ramrod he probed 
the soft spot with the air of an expert and called 
for a spade. A few minutes of lively work disclosed 
a pine box while his comrades crowded around him 
speculating as to what valuables it might contain. 
The ladies, too, seemed to be excited and anxious 
about it — perhaps their money or their silver spoons 
were in peril. The box being carefully uncovered 
the top was pried oft and there exposed to view 
were the remains of a span'iel dog, rebuking his 
disturbers with an odoriferous protest that reached 
their consciences by the most direct route. The lid 
was re])laced, the pit refilled and the earth and sods 
carefully replaced and dressed over read}- for the 
next brigade. Now the lady of the house graciously 
remarked that poor Fido was not resting in ])eace 



160 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

very much that day ; this was the fourth time he 
had been resurrected since morning. 

On the 19th we turned southward and left the 
railroad, directing our march towards Milledgeville. 
The enemy had destroyed the bridge over Little 
river and we had to lay a pontoon bridge, which 
delayed our march an hour or two. The day was 
rainy and the road slippery, and the marching 
tiresome and uncomfortable. Next day we passed 
through Shady Dale, and on the 21st the weather was 
fine and we made good progress; on the 22nd we 
encamped on a plantation, owned by Howell Cobb, 
who had been United States Senator and Secretary 
of the Treasury, and was then a general in the 
Confederate arm3^ Here we loaded a spare wagon 
with peanuts, fresh from the ground on which Ave 
had camped ; on the 24th we entered Milledgeville, 
the capital of Georgia, and remained there encamped 
over the next da}^ which was "Thanksgiving Day," 
and was duly celebrated as such. 

We had been eight days on the road from 
Atlanta, and thus far had drawn no rations from 
our wagon trains except coffee. There had been, 
however, no lack of provisions ; it was in that 
country the season of plenty ; there had been culti- 
vated by negro labor a most bountiful crop of 
corn, sweet potatoes' and various vegetables, and 
on every plantation were fat cattle, pigs and 
poultry in abundance, while the smokehouses were 
filled with hams and bacon just cured. 

Butter, honey, sorghum, syr,up, apples, home made 
jelly and preserves and pickles had been also pro- 
vided and stored for us, and it wasn't even necessary 



The March to the Sea. IGl 

to ask for them. Every morning an officer with 
a sergeant and ten men (one from each com- 
pany') were sent out to provide a day's subsistence 
for the regiment. These details were called foragers 
and later "bummers." They were of course armed 
and kept together, and were thus enabled to whip 
or at least "stand off" an}- party oi the enemy's 
cavalry they might meet. Details from other regi- 
ments, which scattered and straggled, lost a good 
many men by capture, but not a single man of 
ours was so lost, either from the foragers or the 
column during the entire march to Savannah. 

These foragers would get as far ahead as they 
could in the first hour or two, then leave the road 
and visit the plantations, find a wagon or cart or 
perhaps a carriage and a single, or pair of, mules or 
horses or oxen or cows to haul it, load it with 
corn meal, potatoes, ham, poultry and everything 
else they could find that was edible, and leading a 
fat steer or two would return to the roadside, and 
"join in " the column as the regiment came along. 
The quantit}' and quality of supplies thus collected 
by these foragers was more than sufficient, and the 
grotesque appearance of the bummers as they lined 
the roadside in the afternoon waiting to join their 
regiments, was a never failing source of amuse- 
ment. They usually went out on foot, but returned 
mounted or in carriages, in all styles, from a 
creaking, rickety cart with a single mule or steer in 
rope traces, to a grand coupe with a blooded pair 
in silver mounted harness. The officer in charge 
was always instructed to permit no wanton de- 
struction of property, nor firing ol buildings, nor 



162 Thk St(ikv of the Second Regiment. 

abuse of people at their homes, and as far as is 
known to the writer these instructions were 
observed by our details, but in many cases, no 
doubt, soldiers who were unrestrained by instruc- 
tions or discipline were guilty of plundering and 
cruelty, not to be justified even in \var, though 
such acts could not always be prevented b^^ those 
in authority. 

During this march it was the rule, as it was in 
all other marches, that every man should keep his 
place in the column, straggling being in our regi- 
ment absolutely forbidden ; this for three reasons ; 
first, for his own safet\^ for the straggler was 
liable to be captured or killed, as many were, by 
the enemy's cavalry, which always followed and 
hung around our rear and flanks ; second, for his 
o^vn good, that he might arrive in camp and get 
his supper and rest with his comrades, rather than 
to fall out, get behind and then have to travel 
alone far into the night, perhaps, to find his regi- 
ment; and third and chiefly, for the sake of good 
order and discipline — that in any emergency, always 
to be expected and prepared for in war, the regi- 
ment should l5e ready in full strength, ever}' man 
in his place. 

It was a custom of the regimental commander 
to look personally to the observance of this rule, 
and in the performance of this dut}' he noticed 
one day one of the recruits who, loaded with his 
gun and forty rounds, his canteen, haversack, 
blankets and a big knapsack, was bravely tip- 
toeing along on his sore feet with his company. 
A word of encouragement to him brought forth 



Thh Makch to the Sea. 168 

the response "the spirit indeed is wilHng but the 
flesh is weak," yet he hoped to keep his place, for 
he well knew it was easier and better to keep up 
than to fall out and get behind and then have to 
catch up. This prompted an inquiry of his captain, 
who said that the man was jjrivate Levi Gleason, 
a Methodist minister, a drafted man, a good 
soldier and a pleasant good fellow and comrade. 

He was called to headquarters one evening soon 
afterwards, and invited, the regiment having no 
chaplain, to preach to us at the next convenient 
opportunity. He excused himself for want of 
preparation, but finally consented, and on the first 
Sabbath of rest in camp the regiment assembled at 
the "church call" at the Colonel's tent. The 
opening exercises were in the usual form, manv of 
the men joining in singing the familiar hvinns ; 
then private Gleason announced his text, "See that 
ye fall not out by the way," and gave us an 
earnest, practical di.scourse, so appropriate and so 
illustrated by the common experience of his hearers 
that it "warmed the boys up for good," as one of 
them expressed it. 

Milledgeville, then the capital city of Georgia, 
was an ancient, aristocratic place with handsomely 
shaded streets and dwellings, but it wore an air 
of quiet decadence and lack of enterprise. The 
legislature had hastily adjourned the day before 
our arrival, and the Governor had departed with 
the members. Gen. Sherman occupied the executive 
mansion with army headquarters, while some of 
our officers assembled at the capitol and reorgan- 
ized the legislature, repealed the ordinance of 



164 Thic Story of the Second Regiment. 

secession and adopted a preamble and resolution 
declaring the loyalt}^ of the State of Georgia to 
the Union. All these proceedings being approved 
by the provisional governor and duly spread upon 
the journals of the two houses, the improvised 
legislature adjourned, to meet successively in the 
capitals of South Carolina, North Carolina and 
Virginia. 

On the 25th of November we crossed the Oconee 
river, and next day reached Sandersville. On the 
27th we crossed the Ogeechee river, and on the 
28th arrived at Louisville, where we remained two 
days awaiting some movements by the other corps. 
The enemy's cavalry, under Gen. Wheeler, had been 
very active of late, burning all the bridges ahead 
of our column and annoying and capturing our 
foragers whenever they could be taken by surprise. 
We could pontoon the streams without much 
delay, but did not want our foraging interfered 
with ; so Kilpatrick was ordered to punish and 
drive away the offenders, and our (Baird's) division 
was sent along to support him. Some lively 
skirmishing occurred during the next three or four 
days between the opposing cavalry forces, bvit 
they kept out of the way of our infantry, generally, 
and w^e didn't get much fun out of the campaign. 
On the 4th we drove the enemy through and 
beyond Waynesboro, and then turned southeasterly, 
and on the 5th encamped at Alexander. Now 
followed several days of unpleasant weather, 
obstructed roads and slow progress, with continued 
annoyance and skirmishing w^ith the enemy's 
cavalry. On the 8th we had quite a brush with 



The March to thk Ska. 165 

them, in which private George Boyson, of Compan^^ 
"K," \vas mortall}' wounded. This day we crossed 
the Ebenezer creek as rear guard, and were closely 
pressed by the enemy while our bridge was being 
taken up. On the 10th we destroyed a section of 
the Charleston and Savannah railroad, including a 
portion of the trestle bridge at the west bank of the 
Savannah river. Now we had left behind us the fine 
agricultural country of central Georgia, abounding 
in corn, hogs, cattle and sweet potatoes; had also 
passed through a level section of sandy pine lands, 
almost destitute of population, improvements or 
provisions, and found ourselves among the rice 
plantations of the Savannah river and coast region. 
The rice crop had been harvested and the thresh- 
ing and hulling mills were in operation. These 
were fired by the enemy at our approach, but our 
cavalry saved one of the threshing mills in the 
vicinitv of our division, the hulling machiner\^ 
being destroyed. So for six or seven days we had 
rice in abundance, issued to the troops "with the 
bark on." We had rice for breakfast, rice for 
dinner, rice for supper and rice the next day 
and the next. Rice for the soldiers, for the horses, 
for the negroes and for the mules, and for every- 
body. The boys exhausted their ingenuity in con- 
triving various ways of hulling and cooking it, but 
it was alwa3'S rice, and we got so sick of it that 
some of us have never eaten an\' of the stuff since. 
We were very glad when our regiment was ordered 
out on the 16th on a foraging expedition, which 
promised at least a temporar}' change of diet. We 
went out in a southwesterlv direction and loaded 



166 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

our train with forage ; got a few cattle and soine 
miscellaneous provisions, all there was in the 
country, and returned on the 19th ; were shelled 
bj' one of the enemy's batteries at a distance on 
our return, and private Stevens, of Company "H," 
was wounded. A wide flooded rice field between 
us and the battery made it inaccessible to us, so 
we had to leave it behind, much to our regret. 

Meanwhile, Fort McAllister had been captured 
b\^ Hazen's division on the 12th, opening communi- 
cation wath our fleet, and on our return we found 
40 days' accumulated mail in our camp and 
tw^o or three days later, provisions and supplies 
came in from the fleet by transports ; among these 
supplies nothing w^as so welcome as the Irish pota- 
toes, of which we had seen none in the past six 
weeks. On the night of the 20th the enemy evacu- 
ated Savannah and some of our forces entered it at 
daybreak on the 21st. Our brigade, however, en- 
camped in a pleasant field about a mile from the 
line of defences constructed by the enemy about the 
city, and our officers and men were permitted to 
visit the city and explore the country about it. 
Some of them discovered that the oyster beds below 
the city had been betw^een the guns of the blockad- 
ing fleet and the enemy's shore batteries for two 
years and thus had not been fished. A detail of 
men with six big army wagons ^vere sent down 
there and returned on Christmas Eve with several 
hundred bushels of the big and luscious oysters 
to enrich our Christmas dinner. 

Christmas came on Sunday and Private Gleason 
preached for us again. About this time a request 



The March to thk Sea. 167 

for his discharge, signed by the Presiding Elder and 
other clergymen of the Minnesota Conference, ad- 
dressed to the Secretary of War, was by that 
authority referred to his regimental commander for 
his opinion and report thereon. Now, it was refered 
to Private Gleason for his remarks. They were to 
the effect that he believed that in his conscription 
his place and field of duty had been by the Divine 
Ruler indicated to him, that he had found ample 
opportunity in it to serve Him and do good to his 
fellows, and that grateful to his friends for their 
kind efforts in his behalf, he did not desire his dis- 
charge until the war should end. Then the paper 
was returned to the Secretary of War and, quite 
unexpectedly to him. Private Gleason was appointed 
Chaplain of the regiment, an office he filled most 
acceptably to the final discharge of the regiment. 

On the 27th of December the 14th corps passed 
in review before Gen. Sherman in the city of Savan- 
nah. Our regiment was especialh' complimented by 
him as it well deserved, and a few days later was 
ordered into the city, and put in charge of the yard 
and shops and other ])roperty of the Central Rail- 
road. The officers occupied the general office build- 
ing and the regiment was housed in the great freight 
warehouse adjoining the yards. 

Here, with daily drills and dress parades in the 
park-like streets, and with guard and patrol duty, 
we had a pleasant though busy tour of service. 

Information was here received of the assignment 
of two detachments of recruits from Fort Snelling 
to our regiment, one of which had been forwarded 
as far as Nashville, and there detained by Gen. 



168 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Thomas until after the battles of the 15th and 16th 
of December, m which our recruits participated, and 
Maj. C. S. Uline was sent to find and bring them 
to the regiment. This he did with all possible ex- 
pedition, but we left Savannah before his return 
and he joined us later at Goldsboro, N. C. {See 
Appendix No. 26.) 



CHAPTER XIII. 
SAVANNAH TO RALEIGH. 

On the 23rd of January, 1865, we commenced 
the "Campaign of the Carolinas," no less famous 
in histor\' than "The March to the Sea." 

Of these campaigns the following general re- 
marks, by way of comparison, may be permitted. 
The march through Georgia was made in the forty 
days commencing the 12th of November at Kings- 
ton and ending w^ith the evacuation of Savannah 
on the 21st of December. This was, in that country, 
the most agreeable and every way the most favor- 
able season of the year for such a campaign. The 
weather was generally delightful, the roads in good 
condition, the streams running parallel with our 
course, were alw^ays within their banks and easily 
forded or bridged, and the bountiful harvest, being 
just over, there was abundance of provisions and 
forage on every plantation. The march was more- 
over a surprise to the enemy, from which he did 
not recover in time to give us any serious opposition. 



Savannah to Raleigh. 169 

The Carolina campaign comprised the sixty-three 
clan's ending with the arrival at Goldsboro, March 
23rd, including the battle of Bentonville. on the 
20th. This was the winter season of cold rains, 
with occasional snows, and the roads were usually 
bad ; sometiines impassable for loaded wagons and 
artillery until they had been corduroyed by the 
troops. The streams were full, often overflowing 
their banks, and as the\^ crossed our course at right 
angles, much time and labor had to be spent in 
bridging them. The enemy had meantime collected, 
under active commanders, quite a formidable and 
well organized force, and disputed our crossing at 
every stream, and harrassed and captured our for- 
agers at ever\' opportunity. The surplus provisions 
and forage had, moreover, during the winter, been 
gathered and .sent to Lee's army in Virginia or had 
been consumed on the plantations, and it required 
active work for a detail of thirty men to gather 
daily the supplies of food for the regiment. In the 
Georgia campaign there had been but little bitter- 
ness of feeling toward us displayed by the people 
at home there and but little wanton destruction or 
waste of property by the soldiers ; in the Carolinas, 
and especially in South Carolina, the bummers had 
to hunt and fight for everything they got, and thev 
left nothing behind them that they could burn 
or carry off. In the interest of discipline as well as 
of humanity the officer in charge of the detail, made 
daily from our regiment, was always instructed not 
to burn buildings or abuse the resident people or to 
take or destroy property not needed for our own 
use, and it is the writer's belief that his men had 



170 The Story of thk Second Regiment. 

but small part in the cruel and wanton devavStation 
that marked the pathway of the army across that 
state. 

But to resume our narrative within its proper 
limits, our regiment marched out of their comfort- 
able quarters at the Central Railroad depot at 7 a.m. 
on the 20th, and at 10 o'clock encamped at Chero- 
kee Hill, eight miles out on the AugUvSta road, by 
which we had approached the city a month earlier. 
We left this camp on the 25th, and bridging and 
crossing one branch of Ebenezer Creek on the 26th 
and another on the 27th, passing that day through 
the pretty village of Springfield, we encamped on 
the 28th near Sister's Ferry on the Savannah river, 
about forty miles above the cit3\ Here we remained 
a week while a pontoon bridge was being thrown 
across the river and a corduroy road built across 
the v^ide and overflowed bottom lands on the South 
Carolina side, and while trains and artiller}^ were 
being crossed. On the 5th of Februar}^ we marched, 
over and, encamping three miles from the bridge, 
waited there while it was being taken up on the 
6th ; next day we passed through the smouldering 
ruins of Robertsville and Brighton, which had been 
burned the day before b}' our own troops ahead 
of us. Our course now lay west of north, parallel 
to and a few miles distant from the Savannah 
River until the 10th, when we turned a little to the 
right and, crossing the Salkehatchie River, arrived 
at Barnwell Court House. Our brigade had the 
advance to-day, and as we came in sight of the 
village an order was received from corps head- 
quarters for our regiment to encamp therein and 



Savannah to Raleigh. 171 

prevent any firing of buildings or any molestation 
of the inhabitants. As every house in sight of our 
march from Sister's Ferr^^ had been burned, with 
no attempt to restrain or prevent the lawless de- 
struction, it seemed that a difficult duty had been 
assigned to us. Our pace was quickened, and as 
we entered the village in advance of all other troops, 
guards were stationed at all the houses and the 
bummers and stragglers were admonished as they 
came up to keep in the streets and move on. They 
were greatly surprised at this unexpected restraint, 
and some of them were not disposed to submit to 
it, but no serious resistance was made, and by sunset 
the village was as quiet and peaceful as could be 
desired. One commissioned officer who had joined 
the bummers announced his purpose to burn the 
town an\diow and "he would like to see the guards 
that would stop him." He thought better of it, 
however, and halted and sneaked off before a 
guard's levelled musket, just in time to save his life. 
We remained here until noon next day, when, our 
corps having passed on, we were ordered to follow. 
Before we were half a mile away the village was 
on fire in a dozen places, and was no doubt totally 
destroyed. 

On the 12th we reached the Augusta & Charles- 
town Railroad, twenty-four miles east of Augusta. 
Here we turned eastward, and spent most of the 
afternoon in destro\Mng the track and bridges. This 
work was resumed next morning. In the afternoon 
we marched about ten miles northerly, to Davis' 
Mills, on the South Edisto river, our brigade being 
rear guard of the 14th corps. Next morning, the 



172 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

14th, we crossed the river and burned the bridge 
behind us. Then marched seventeen miles to the 
North Edisto. On the 15th we crossed Congaree 
creek, at Clark's Mills. The roads were bad and 
we had considerable work in corduroying the soft 
places and helping the heavy wagons out of the 
mud. Next day we crossed Twelve Mile Creek, and 
passed through the smoking ruins of Lexington 
Court House. On the 17th we waited in camp all 
the forenoon, while the troops and trains ahead of 
us, crossed the Saluda river, which was a wide, 
swift and muddy stream, and had been bridged by 
our pontoniers. We marched about 5 p. m. over 
the swaying bridge and on into the night. The 
wind was blowing hard and the whole countr}^ 
seemed on fire. Columbia, six miles away, lighted 
up the eastern sk}', and the woods and the fences 
and buildings and the stacks of straw and forage 
w^ere everywhere ablaze. Along the road were 
some "deadening" fields in which the pine trees 
had been killed by girdling and left to decay stand- 
ing, while the ground was tilled beneath them. The 
fire would climb these dead trees, following streaks 
of turpentine or pitch and running out the great 
bare limbs, would find the fat pitch}' knots and 
there burst out in flaming torches that seemed to 
be suspended in the sky with no visible support. In 
some of the regiments that had encamped in one of 
these deadenings, some of the men were seriously 
hurt by the falling of limbs that had been burned 
off the trees over them Columbia was occupied 
to-day by the 15th corps, and we hear they made, 
a lively night of it there. On the 18th our march 



Savannah to Rai.eigh. 173 

was resumed but was slow and tedious, most of 
the time being spent in corduroying the bottomless 
roads and extricating the wagons from the mud 
holes. At night we encamped near the Broad river, 
opposite Alston, which was an important railroad 
junction, about twenty-five miles north-west of 
Columbia. Next morning, Sunday, we crossed the 
river and destroyed several miles of railroad track 
and burned a train of cars and a depot ; then 
attended divine service in camp in the afternoon. 
On Monday we marched northward to Monticcllo, 
and on Tuesday eastward to Winnsboro, on the 
Columbia & Chester railroad. Wednesday, the 
22nd. we tackled the railroad again and dissected 
four or five miles of it. 

Our course for a few days had been through a 
fine productive country, and forage and provisions 
had been plentiful. On the 28rd we moved east- 
ward about fifteen miles to the Catawba River at 
Rocky Mount, where our pontoniers were laying a 
bridge. The stream was wide and full from the 
recent rains, and the current rapid and swirly. It 
required all the available bridge equipment, and 
moreover was a work of great diflficult}^ to span the 
river with a safe and adequate structure. The 20th 
corps had hardly crossed ahead of us when the 
bridge was broken by driftwood floating down the 
river. The next three days were spent in replacing 
it and making and keeping it as secure as possi- 
ble, while a crew of men in boats were put in the 
river above it to intercept the drift wood and tow 
it to the shore. Meantime it rained nearly all the 
time, and the roads as well as the streams were 



174 Thk Story of the Second Regiment. 

getting worse. Our troops and trains had, how- 
ever, been crossing at such times as the bridge 
seemed safe, and at 7 o'clock on the evening of the 
27th our turn as the rear brigade came to cross. 
We lighted our precarious wa}' with pitch pine 
torches as we moved down the narrow, winding 
bottomless road to the west bank, and gingerly 
walked over the slender, swaying chain of canvass 
boats, and then up the slippery hill on the eastern 
shore, where we halted and waited for dajdight. 
We had been delayed here vSeveral days, and Sher- 
man, who was ahead with the 20th corps, was 
getting impatient. The rains continued, but noth- 
ing could now make the roads an}^ worse than 
the 23rd corps had left them after the passage of 
its trains and artillery. We commenced at da}'- 
break, now cutting a new parallel road through 
the woods and now corduroying the old one, as 
one or the other seemed best, and b}- working hard 
all da}^ forwarded our train three or four miles 
while the pontoniers were taking up the bridge. 
Next day, March 1st, we made 15 miles, encamping 
near Hanging Rock battleground, where Sumpter 
and Tarleton met in the Revolutionary War. On 
the 4th we crossed the line into North Carolina, 
and on the 5th encamped near the Great Pedee 
river at Sneadsboro The six days' march between 
the two rivers, with continuous rain and mud, had 
been the most uncomfortable and fatiguing of the 
whole campaign, and we were not sorr\^ to have 
one pleasant day in camp while the bridge was 
being thrown across the stream. At intervals we 
heard explosions down the river, and wondered 



Savannah to Raleigh. 175 

whether the 15th and 17th corps were having a 
battle at Cheraw, or, as we afterwards learned, 
were burning some captured ordnance stores. 

On the 17th, the bridge having been completed, 
we crossed the river at noon, and then the rain 
commenced again and continued for three days 
more. Our route laj^ through the piney country of 
North Carolina, whose products, as our child's 
geographies had told us, were pitch, tar, rosin, 
turpentine and lumber. The bummers, as usual, 
set fire to everything that would burn, and our 
division arriving one day at a stream swollen 
bank full, found its surface covered with flames 
and the bridge burning. A turpentine factory a 
little way up the stream w^as on fire, and several 
hundred barrels of burning tar and melted rosin 
had flowed into the water and spread over the full 
width of the stream, making it impossible to cross 
or even to approach it. So we bivouacked until 
the burning stream cooled ofl" enough to permit 
our reconstruction of the bridge. This incident 
delayed the division five or six hours, and we had 
to make it up after we got started again. On the 
10th our brigade had the lead of the army, and, 
as we came in sight of Fayetteville, found the 
enemj^ in our front. Our progress was disputed 
for several miles, without, however, much delajang 
us, and we entered the city about 11 a. m., driving 
the enemy's rear guard into and through and 
be^^ond it, saving the brid^^e over Cape Fear river 
by a lively skirmish and a race for it. 

Next day a boat arrived from Wilmington with 
dispatches for Sherman. Our regiment was detailed 



176 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

for provost guard and made responsible tor good 
order and protection of persons and property of the 
residents during our occupation of the place. We 
had a pleasant tour of dut\- here with good 
weather and some rest. The old U. S. arsenal 
which had been in operation for the past four 
years making ordinance stores for the Confederate 
army was, by Gen. Sherman's order, destroyed ; 
the buildings razed and the expensive machinery 
broken up. 

On the 15th our regimental commander received 
orders to burn a large cotton factory and ware- 
house in the city which had been manufacturing 
goods for the C. S. arm^s and this was done, to 
the infinite sorrow of the throng of girls and other 
operatives who witnessed it. On the 16th the 
movement of the army towards Goldsboro com- 
menced, and the laborious mending of roads and 
boosting of wagons was resumed and continued 
until we encountered the enemy in force at Benton- 
ville on the 20th. Our brigade was but lightly 
engaged here, but behaved gallantly, our regiment 
losing tw^o men wounded. Remaining on the battle- 
field one day, our march was resumed on the 22nd, 
and next day we crossed the Neuse river and 
encamped at Goldsboro. Here we found Gens. 
Terry and Scofield with the 10th and 23rd corps, 
all resplendent in new uniforms and well supplied 
with camp equipage and regulation army rations. 
Our army, in the sixty-three days of hard cam- 
paigning, with no opportunity to draw new cloth- 
ing or even mend what we wore, had come to 
that condition w^hen a general change of dress and 



Savannah to Raleigh. 177 

a chance to wash off the tar smoke was eminently 
desirable. Moreover, understanding that we were 
to rest a few days at Goldsboro, our foraging 
details had been instructed that day to provide as 
large a supply of miscellaneous provisions as 
possible, and they had been unusually successful, 
every regiment having at its head the motley 
cavalcade of bummers and their ec(uipage well 
laden with assorted plunder. As we approached 
the city, orders came to close up the column and 
prepare to pass in review before Gens. Scofield and 
Terry, to w^hom Sherman, Slocum and Howard 
proposed to exhibit the army of which they were so 
justly proud. It may be supposed that our own 
commanders, in thinking of the splendid achieve- 
ments of the army, had quite forgotten the 
condition it was now in, and that its appearance 
as the column passed the reviewing stand was a 
surprise to them as well as to the distinguished 
officers invited to review us. At all events the "re- 
view " was abruptly discontinued after the first two 
or three brigades had passed, and w^e went on to 
our camps without further ceremony. After a day's 
rest in camp our regiment was ordered out six miles 
from (joldsboro to guard and operate a grist mill, in 
which vocation we acquitted otu-selves creditably, as 
usual. Next day we received a mail, the first since 
the 5th of February, and sup])lies of clothing, ammu- 
nition and army rations of food were issued to the 
men. On the 31st a military execution took place 
in another division of our corjjs, the troops being 
paraded under arms to witness the sad ceremon3\ 
Without any previous notice, our regiment was 



178 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

carefully and thoroughly inspected on the 1st day 
of April, b}' an officer from corps headquarters. 
He commended everything but the band. He com- 
mended this also ; with their silver horns and 
magnificent music, but he reminded the command- 
ing officer that regimental bands had long since 
been abolished, and he would have to report this 
one to the corps commander as unauthorized. It 
had to be explained to him that these men were 
only the authorized company musicians, and not a 
band at all, though the appearance might be to the 
contrary, and he duly verified the explanation by 
examination of the muster rolls. Then he said that 
the corps commander (Gen. J. C. Davis) had often 
observed those men and mistaken them for a band, 
and suggested that to undeceive him the}^ should 
play at corps headquarters that afternoon, which 
they did, and were highly complimented as "com- 
pany musicians." Let it be here said that this 
band, since its first organization at Tuscumbia, 
Ala., in the summer of 1862, had been under the 
same discipline as the companies had been, always 
having equal hours of drill and practice, alwaj^s 
marching in their places at the head of the regi- 
ment, and always read}^ to play the regiment out 
of camp and from a halt, and when in camp the 
dress parade and the concert at retreat were never 
omitted in good weather. 

On the 3rd of April, Maj. Uline rejoined the 
regiment with 80 recruits from Minnesota, whose 
names filled up our rolls to the number required to 
entitle the regiment to a Colonel, so on the same 
day Lieut. Col. J. VV. Bishop, who, nine months 



Savannah to Raleigh. 179 

before, had been commissioned Cofonel, was must- 
ered as such, and Maj. Uline was mustered as 
Lieutenant Cofonel, and Capt. John Moulton as 
Major. Next day our division was reviewed by 
Gen. Scofield, who had for a time commanded the 
division in which it \vas included at Triune, Tenn., 
in the spring of 1863. He personally congratu- 
lated the Colonel on his new rank and on the 
splendid appearance of his regiment. On the 9th 
Sergt. Kelsey reported with 59 more recruits which 
had been forwarded from Minnesota in November, 
'64, and had spent the winter in Gen. Thomas' 
command at Nashville, Tenn. On the 10th of 
April our army was again in motion, towards 
Raleigh, our brigade leading the army of (ycorgia 
twelve miles to Springfield, driving the enemy be- 
fore us all day. They fired the bridge over Neuse 
river as they crossed it, and as it had been well 
prepared with tar and pitch for burning, we were 
unable to save it. Next morning we received the 
news of the surrender of Lee's army, and the 
camps resounded with cheers. Johnston's army 
was, however, yet before us, and we went for him 
again, moving him back towards Raleigh twelve 
miles more, to Clayton. Next day we had a skir- 
mish fight all the way to Raleigh, fifteen miles, 
arriving there at noon. Our regiment was at once 
placed in charge of the state insane iisyluni there, 
and encamped in the ample grounds, ]jlacing a 
chain of guards about it to keep away the bum- 
mers, who were ready to turn out the \n- 
mates, sane or insane, without discrimination or 
fornuditv. 



180 The h'ToKV of The Second Regiment. 

After a day's rest here we marched again on the 
15th six miles to Holly Springs and next day six 
miles further toward Durham Station. We remained 
in this \*icinity during the ten days occupied in the 
first, and the final negotiations for the surrender 
of Johnston's army, which took place at Durham 
on the 26th, and of which we were formally in- 
formed on the 27th. 

We cannot here discuss the terms of capitulation 
first offered to Sherman and accepted by Johnston 
and disapproved at Washington, nor the trouble 
among high officers that grew out of them. It may 
perhaps be said that Sherman with his splendid 
army at his back and his old enemy before him, 
starved, demoralized and at his mercy, was too 
generous, but what can be said in extenuation of 
the treatment accorded to Sherman by the Secretary 
of War and by Halleck, whose puerile attempt to 
belittle Sherman and magnify himself is an illustra- 
tion of mean selfishness in high authority that, 
w^ere it not in the authentic record over his own 
signature, would hardly be credited. 

But now the campaign was over without serious 
bloodshed and our rejoicing was unbounded. The 
paroling of the surrendered men was assigned to 
Gen. Schofield and we returned b}' easy marches to 
the vicinity of Raleigh, encamping Saturday, the 
29th, at Page's Station, a short distance west of 
the city. 



Richmond, Washington and Homk. 181 

CHAPTER XIV. 
RICHMOND, WASHINGTON AND HOME. 

With the surrender of Johnston's army the war, 
so far as we were concerned, was substantially over, 
and we all knew that a few weeks, more or less, 
would emancipate us from the restraints of military 
service and restore us to the peaceful ayocations of 
ciyil life. 

Orders were receiyed on Sunday, the 30th of 
April, to "prepare for a comfortable and leisurely 
march to Richmond." The troops were to carrj- 
only ten rounds of cartridges, all surplus stores, 
ammunition and supplies being turned in for storage 
and we were notified that we would be expected at 
Richmond about the 10th of May, which would 
make our march about 16 miles a da}-. This, for a 
yeteran army homeward bound, with good roads, 
good weather and no enemy in the way, was easy 
enough. The march w^as to commence on Monday, 
the 1st of May, but on Sunday morning, under 
the pretence of changing the troops to more eligible 
camps, the Fourteenth corps was led out about 16 
miles and encamped at 3 p. m. The remainder 
of the afternoon was spent in mustering the men 
and preparing the pay rolls (which had to be done 
on the last day of eyery second month) to the ex- 
clusion of divine service. The Fourteenth and 
Twentieth corps were to march on parallel roads 
and there were suggestions that a racing match 
had been arranged between the corps commanders, 



182 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

which, if true, was foolish, cruel and unjustifiable, 
and if it was not true, the hard marching of the 
next six days has never been reasonably explained, 
to our knowledge. 

On the 1st of May the revielle sounded long 
before daylight, and we marched at 5 o'clock, 
crossing Neuse and Tar rivers and encamping at 6 
p. M,, after a march of twenty-four miles. On the 
2nd we made twenty-two miles, and on the 3rd, 
with a delay of five hours in bridging and crossing 
Roanoke river at Taylor's Ferry, we marched six- 
teen miles and encamped near Bo\^dton, Virginia. 
On the 4th we marched again at 5 o'clock a. m., 
making twent^^-two miles. On the 5th the march 
was urged all da}- long and twenty-eight miles were 
covered, and on Saturday, the 6th, twent\'-four 
miles. On Sunday-, the 7th, twenty miles brought 
our division within a mile of the James river at 
Richmond, and here orders were received from Maj. 
Gen. H. W. Halleck, commanding the department of 
the James, directing the approaching troops to 
encamp at least six miles south of the city and for- 
bidding any officer or soldier from Sherman's army 
to enter it unless he had a w^ritten pass from his 
corps commander. Gen. Sherman, not expecting our 
arrival so soon, was absent, and in partial and re- 
luctant compliance with these orders, the wear\^ 
troops retraced their steps some two or three miles 
and went into camp. 

In the next tvc^o days a good many of Sherman's 
officers and soldiers did visit the cit}" without the 
required written pass, greatly to the vexation of 
the provost guards, who were expected to prevent 



Richmond, Washington and Home. 183 

their crossing the river and to arrest and imprison 
all who might be found in the city without proper 
authority. 

On the 9th, Sherman still being absent, orders 
from "Headquarters Department of the James" 
were received and published to our army announcing 
a grand review of the Fourteenth army corps in 
Richmond on the 10th hj the "Major General com- 
manding the Department." This order prescribed 
with infinite detail the line of march by which the 
corps was to be brought into the august presence 
of the department commander, the formation of the 
troops in the column and the position in which the 
arms were to be carried in passing the several 
streets, and especially the honors to be paid the 
reviewing officer. All baggage wagons and camp 
followers and irregulars of every sort were to be 
rigoroush' excluded from the column, and the 
soldiers and their arms and equipments were to be 
in the highest degree in militarv order and condition. 
Gen. Sherman arrived late that night, but in time 
to announce to the troops before daybreak that the 
proposed review would not take place as arranged. 

Our arrival had been several days earlier than 
had been expected, and he now ordered the quarter- 
masters and paymasters, who were on the way to 
meet us, back to Washington and decided to march 
his arm\' through to the Potomac at once. He 
seemed to think that we had been sufficiently enter- 
tained and refreshed already in the "Department of 
the James." 

On the loth our marching orders were received 
and next day the Fourteenth and Twentieth army 



184 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

corps marched through the cit}- in their free-and-easy 
"route step," paying no honors to anybod\'. 

Since Johnston's surrender no foraging on the 
country had been done, and the bummers had been 
gradually reduced to the ranks and to discipline and 
order, but on this day's march they were revived 
and displayed in unusual exuberance of st^de, spirit 
and equipment. The provost guards who lined the 
streets looked on them in wondering amazement, 
but the Commander of the Department of the James 
was nowhere visible to the naked eye. We marched 
twenty-three miles that day, crossing Chickahominj' 
river, and in the thirteen miles next day passed 
through Hanover Court House and crossed 
PanumkcA' river. On the 13th we crossed the Rich- 
mond & Gordonville Railroad at Chesterfield and 
after a morning's march of twelve miles halted at 
noon at Childsburg, then we marched four miles 
north westerl}^ and encamped. 

On the 14th we marched twent}- miles, encamping 
near Daniels ville, and on the 15th, after passing 
through Verdiersville we crossed the Rapidan at 
Racoon Ford, nineteen miles. On the 16th -w^e made 
eighteen miles, crossing the Rappahannock at Kelly's 
Ford and next day marched eighteen miles and 
encamped at Bristoe Station on the Orange & 
Alexandria Railroad. We were now traversing his- 
toric ground and were much interested in noting 
places whose names w^ere so familiar in association 
with the movements of the arm}' of the Potomac. 
On the 18th we passed Manassas Junction, the Bull 
Run battle field, and Centreville in a march of 
twenty miles, and on the 19th moved our camp 



Richmond, Washington and Home. 185 

about six miles to Alexandria. Here, on the 20th, 
seventy-two more recruits from Minnesota joined 
the regiment and were distributed to companies, 
and the commissaries, quartermasters and pay- 
masters supplied our needs in their respective 
departments. 

Orders were received announcing the Grand Final 
Review in Washington of the two great represent- 
ative armies, that of the Army of the Potomac on 
the 23rd and of Sherman's Army on the 24th of 
May, and a day or two was given for rest and 
preparation. Our regiment w^as in splendid con- 
dition and well armed and equipped in every par- 
ticular. We numbered about 300 veterans of nearly 
four years' service, and 400 recruits of one year or 
less, but these had been so well mingled with and 
instructed by the veterans that there was little 
apparent difl'erence in appearance or efficiency. 
There were few, if any, other regiments in our corps 
so strong as ours — many of them numbered less than 
300 men, the polic^^ in most of the states having 
been to organize new regiments rather than to fill 
up the old ones. Our ten companies, under arms, 
aA'craged about thirty-two files front and to con- 
dense the marching column for the review the 
smaller regiments were formed into eight or six and 
some of them into four com]:)anies of about that size. 

The Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twentieth corj)s 
crossed Long Bridge during the night of the 23rd 
and bivouacked in the streets about the Capitol to 
1)6 in readiness to commence the march at the ap- 
pointed hour. The morning of Wednesday, the 24th, 
was clear and sunny. Taking an early breakfast in 



186 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

our own camp, our Fourteenth corps was in motion 
at 7 o'clock and after a march of eight miles stacked 
arms in the vicinit}'^ of the Capitol at 10 o'clock. 
The review march had already commenced, but 
there w^ere sixt\^-five thousand men in the column, 
w^hich marching briskly consumed six and a half 
hours in passing the reviewing stand, so our time 
to march out into Pennsylvania avenue did not 
come until afternoon. 

Probably no more magnificent military display 
was ever seen than the one that greeted our eyes 
as we marched around the Capitol and looked 
down the long, straight, broad avenue, filled from 
curb to curb with marching troops, the gay 
uniforms and glistening muskets and the unfolded 
colors all swaying with the rythm of the music as 
the regiments \vith regular, steady step, moved 
on. At the great Treasury building the column 
wheeled b}^ companies to the right and then 
presently to the left, and then the arms w^ere 
smartly brought to the "carry" for the "march 
past" the President and the high oflBcers of the 
army and of the government standing with him. 
Officers saluted respectfully as they passed the 
stand, and when the rear company of a regiment 
had cleared the White House grounds, the arms 
were "right shouldered" and the route step 
resumed. No halt for rest was permitted, as the 
march of the column in the avenue must not be 
checked or obstructed b}'^ the troops ahead of it, 
so we tramped on through Georgeto\vn and across 
the Acqueduct bridge into Virginia before -we 
had an opportunity^ to file out of the road and 



Richmond, Washington and Home. 187 

vStack arms and take breath. When we got back 
to our camps at 7 o'clock we had marched twenty 
miles, and were pretty thoroughly tired. Probabl}^ 
the reviewing officers, who stood for several con- 
secutive hom's looking at the passing troops, were 
also tired, but they did not, as we did, have to 
march with a soldier's load ten miles to get there 
and then ten miles to supper. 

On the day after the review our corps left the 
old bivouac at Alexandria and moved about ten 
miles to find a fresher and cleaner camping ground, 
about three miles north of Washington. Here the 
officers and men were freely given opportunity^ to 
visit the city, and, with pleasant weather and 
plentiful rations, the time passed rapidly and with- 
out many events worth}' of notation here. Our 
old commander, George H. Thomas, visited our 
camp on the 23rd of June, and was enthusiastically 
received b}- our regiment and others that had 
served with him and under him, in the West. 

On the 3rd he reviewed our division, which had 
been his original command in 1861, and under his 
direction had fought and won the battle of Mill 
Springs. 

On the Gth of June our (third) divivsion (14th 
army corps) was reorganized ; and Col. J. W. Bishop 
was formally assigned to command the first 
brigade, now consisting of the 2nd Minnesota, 18th 
Kentucky, 31st Ohio, 101st Indiana and 23rd 
Missouri regiments, and on the 9th he assumed 
command of the division. Gen. Baird having' taken 
leave of absence. On the 13th of June his com- 
mission as Brigadier General by Brevet, dated 



188 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

April 9th, 1865, was received and was duly 
announced to the regiment. {See appendix No. 28.) 
In the evening the officers and men of the regiment, 
with the band, came to division headquarters 
en masse to present their congratulations. Some 
twenty-five years later the writer learned that this 
appointment had been recommended by his corps 
and army commanders from Savannah in January, 
1865, and, the commission not having arrived, the 
recommendation was renewed in May. {See ap- 
pendix No. 29.) 

On the 14th orders were received to move the 
division by rail to Parkersburg, on the Ohio river, 
and thence by steamers to Louisville, Ky., and the 
first brigade was forwarded in the afternoon of 
the same day, the remainder of the division follow- 
ing next morning. The troops travelled in open 
coal cars, which at the time were the only cars to 
be had for them, and they would have been com- 
fortable enough in fine weather, but it rained all 
the first night on the road, drenching the men, and 
with the coal dust making their beds decidedh^ 
dirty and uncomfortable. Division headquarters 
left Washington by passenger train in the evening 
of the 15th, and, passing the troops on the road, 
arrived at Cumberland in time next morning to 
have hot coftee supplied to all the troop trains as 
they came along, which was gratefully appreciated 
by the tired and hungry men. The division arrived 
at Parkersburg on the 17th, and next day, Sunday 
the 18th, embarked on a fleet of steamers for the 
trip down the Ohio river. We had a most delight- 
ful voyage, passing Cincinnati at 6 p. m. of 



Richmond, WASniNciroN and Homk. 189 

Monday, arrived at Louisville Tuesday morning, 
the 20th. and, marching out on the Bardstown 
pike, encamped about four miles south of the city. 
Here the next twenty da3's were passed in waiting 
the decision of the war department as to our final 
discharge. Some of the troops were being sent to 
Texas and to other Southern states, and while w^e 
knew that the larger part of the army would be 
soon discharged, we could not know that we 
might not be elected to remain in the service in- 
definitely. But orders came at last for our muster 
out, and on the 10th of July the rolls were all 
ready, and the final inspection, muster and parade 
was made. Orders relieving all detached duty men 
had been received, and our camp and garrison 
equipage were turned over to the Quartermaster. 

The corps commander issued his farewell orders, 
directing the regiment to proceed to Fort Snelling, 
Minnesota, for final discharge, and accompanied 
them with a complimentary letter. ( Appendix Nos. 
30, 31 and 32.) 

The officers of the regiment called on Gen. 
Baird, our division commander, in the evening, 
and received his parting congratulations and com- 
mendations. He had, as our division commander 
since October, 1863, won the hearty respect and 
good will of all under his command, and, with all 
our eagerness to be released from military duty, 
there was mingled much of regret at the breaking 
up of all our well established and agreeable 
relations as soldiers. 

Next morning, the 11th, we marched out of our 
camps at G o'clock, leaving the tents all standing, 



190 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

and a few minutes later halted at corps head- 
quarters, where Gen. J. C. Davis, the corps com- 
mander, made us a brief but feeling address, and 
said good-by ; then the march was resumed to 
Louisville; there we crossed the Ohio river, and at 
10 o'clock we left Jeffersonville by train for Chicago, 
where on arrival at 6 p. m. next day the regiment 
was quartered in the Soldiers' Rest. Early on the 
13th we marched through the city and took the 
train for La Crosse by way of Watertown, Wis. 
Reaching La Crosse at 2 a. m. on the 14th, we 
immediately went on board the steamer McLellan 
for St. Paul. 

At Winona at 8 o'clock a crowd of people were 
at the levee to greet us, and the captain kindl}^ 
consented to hold the boat there long enough to 
permit us to go ashore for a parade march. The 
men were in high spirits, and with our splendid 
band and full ranks the regiment marched through 
the broad, level streets for an hour or more and 
then stacked arms to enable the men to exchange 
greetings and congratulations with the citizens 
and with their friends,many of whom had come from 
interior counties to see us. Winona had hospitably 
entertained us on several occasions, and we all 
gratefully remembered it. 

Next morning, the 15tli, we landed at the lower 
levee at St. Paul. The city seemed to be having a 
general holiday, and crowds of people were on the 
bank to welcome us, with bands of music and 
salvos of artillery, and a parade of the fire de- 
partment and other organizations. Col. John T. 
Averill, of the 6th Minnesota regiment, marshaled 



Richmond, Washington and Home. 191 

the grand procession, and under its escort we 
marched in columns of platoons up Third street to 
Wabasha, and by that street to the Capitol 
grounds, where we were received b}^ Hon. John S. 
Prince, then Mayor of the city, and Hon. Stephen 
Miller, then Governor of the state, in appropriate 
addresses of welcome. Then we were invited to a 
bountiful collation which the ladies had spread for 
us in the Capitol building and which they person- 
ally served to the hungry soldiers with gracious 
words and kind attentions. 

All this over, our march was resumed to the 
upper levee, where w^e re-embarked for Fort Snell- 
ing. About 5 o'clock p. m. we were encamped on 
the parade ground at that historic post, where 
four years before we had been mustered into the 
service. Here we were obliged to wait several 
daj's for our final payment. Our camp was en- 
livened with visiting friends during the day, and 
throngs of people came out every evening from St. 
Paul and from Minneapolis to attend our dress 
parades. At the close of the last parade of the 
regiment, Wednesda^^ evening, July 19th, a brief 
farewell address was made to the regiment by the 
Colonel. The next day, July 20th, the final pa^^- 
ment was made, the men received their individual 
discharges, and the "Second Regiment of Minnesota 
Veteran Volunteer Infantry" ceased to exist. The 
men dispersed to their homes with a loj'al pride iu 
the record made b\- the regiment, with a warm 
and steadfast friendship for each other as comrades, 
and with the satisfaction that comes onlv from 
duty well perfc^rmcd. "MayCiod bless and prosj^er 



192 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

them, every one!" was the sincere prayer of the 
Commander as the men afifectionately bade hhn 
good-by on that bright summer afternoon, and 
now, after twenty-five years have intervened xyith 
varied experiences of sadness and of happiness to 
us all, he closes the record with the same "God 
bless and prosper you, comrades, every one!" 



CHAPTER XV. 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

The war through which this narrative has taken 
us ended nearly twenty-five years ago. 

A generation of young men born since our muster 
out, are now^ voters and of full age for military 
service. Many of them are enrolled as members of 
the National Guard in the several states and doubt- 
less would be as prompt and ready as their fathers 
w^ere, to take the field for the National defense if 
the country required their services. And probabl}' 
in any future war of like duration the deplorable 
waste and sacrifice of soldiers' lives and health 
through ignorance and incompetence of officers and 
men under unaccustomed circumstances, would be 
repeated. Some things in w^ar have to be personalh' 
learned by experience, and a brief relation of some 
of these things will interest old comrades as a 
reminiscence, if it does not meet the notice of any 
who mig^ht derive instruction from it. 



Concu'dinCt Kkmakks. 19r-5 

At the President's call our companies were 
assembled and recruited at their several local sta- 
tions, and when read}' were ordered to the general 
rendezvous at Fort Snelling to be mustered into 
the United States service and to be organized into 
regiments. The men and officers of each compan^^ 
were mutual acquaintances and friends, while the\' 
were strangers to those of other companies, and 
this wath other olDvious causes begot and promoted 
a spirit of company pride, which, if they had been 
brought together for a few da^^s' encampment and 
exercise, or for a short jieriod of service within the 
state, woidd not be objectionable, perhaps indeed 
would be desirable as a stimulus for each to do its 
best. The rules of promotion were established on 
this line at the beginning, under which all vacant 
commissions occurring in any company were to be 
filled by promotion from its own ranks. 

When, however, the regiment left the state and 
took its place among the hundreds ol other regi- 
ments in the Grand Army of the United States this 
company feeling gave place in great degree to the 
larger one of ])ride and comradeship in the regiment, 
and the propriety of the regimental rule of promo- 
tion, which was adopted and announced hy the 
Governor in I8O0, became manifest. Under this rule 
the vacant commission in any com])anv was to be 
filled by the senior of the next lower grade in the 
regiment, promotions to the grade of Second Lieu- 
tenant being made within the company. 

Details of entire companies for guard and picket 
and fatigue duty, which were at first the rule, 
gradually were superseded by details of officers and 



194 Thk Story of the Second Regiment. 

men from all the companies, which promoted better 
acquaintance and better discipline, and better dis- 
tributed the duty with its casualties and hardships 
throughout the regiment. 

So the regiment came to be in large degree the 
unit of command and administration and maneuver, 
in which all the officers and men were personally 
known to and interested as comrades in each other, 
while the company was the family of more intimate 
and brotherly relations among the men and more 
immediate and personal care and command by the 
officers ; and the regiment and the company were 
thus better and more efficiently handled. 

At the beginning it was a favorite scheme to 
brigade together regiments from the same state, to 
be called the Vermont brigade or the Wisconsin 
brigade, etc., but this was soon discontinued as 
unwise and the better plan of mingling the regiments 
from the various states together was adopted, 
thus, in organizing a National Army, ignoring state 
lines. Certain influences effected and maintained 
the isolation of the Regular troops in separate 
brigades and when practicable in separate divisions, 
but this practice was even more objectionable than 
the separate brigading of state regiments. If a 
regular regiment was in any way superior to the 
volunteers, why should not the latter have the 
advantage of association with it. If it be suggested 
that the regulars might learn of volunteers, why 
should they not have the opportunity? 

One of the first things the new soldier had to 
learn was how intelligently and properly to take 
care of himself. Manv of them were mere children 



C<K\ci.UDiNG Remarks. 19v5 

in this respect. Accustomed to the comforts and 
conveniences of life under different conditions, he 
lacked the provident forethought, and the knack of 
getting the best out of ]jresent circumstances, vehich 
became a habit with the veteran, and was therefore 
continualh' suffering for want of something which 
he might have had. Ordered out suddenly on a 
hard march his already worn out shoes gave out 
the first day. When night came on cold or stormy 
his overcoat or blanket had been thrown away to 
lighten his load on the march. If the trains were 
mired several miles back in the road our recruit 
had no food or cooking utensils, though he had 
received three days rations that very morning. If 
he got overheated on the march or at drill he would 
drink a pint of cold spring water at a gtdp and 
become a candidate for hospital treatment directly. 
If he could sneak out of the column on the road he 
laid down in the fence corner and took a nap, then 
if he were not picked up by the eneni}- he had to 
march alone and weary far into the night to rejoin 
his company. If he got sick he got homesick also 
and lost his heart <'md hope and died. 

Then the officers from (rcneral to Captain were 
often as inexpcncnccd as the men, and indifferent 
to the comfort and care of their troops. Few of 
them knew the weight of a knajjsack, haversack, 
canteen, gun and "forty rounds," and the marches 
were conducted without any intelligent judgment 
as to economizing the strength of the troops, and 
the camps were not selected with due regard to 
convenience and rest. All these things were greatly 
improved with experience. Within the first year of 



19(5 The Stoky of thk Second Regiment. 

service in the South our regiment lost from deaths 
and discharges resulting from wounds in action 
less than two per cent, but in the same time lost 
from deaths and discharges for disability resulting 
from diseases and hardships, over tAvent\' per cent. 

Yet the same regiment made the "Campaign of 
the Carolinas " three years later, in mid-^nnter, 
marching 4-80 miles, foraging on the countr\' chiefly 
for its rations, with no tents except those carried 
on the men's backs, and with one half of its men 
recrtiits of only a few months' service (well 
mingled with and instructed by the veterans, how- 
ever) and arrived at Goldsboro with a total tem- 
porary loss from its effective present force of only 
three per cent. Such a record was noc, in this 
campaign, reached b}" many regiments, but any- 
thing approaching it in the first year of the war 
would have been quite impossible for any, in the 
then inexperience of officers and men. 

As the war went on, officers learned to require 
and men to conform to many things in the ways 
of regulation and discipline that could not be 
applied and enforced with new troops It came to 
be undenstood that somewhere in all the months 
of weary marching, maneuvering and campaigning, 
there was to come an hour of actual battle, when 
the victor}' must be won by the army that could 
outfight the other. Failing in this emergency, all 
else was failure. 

To bring a regiment properly and effectivel}^ 
into battle it must have several qualities, only to 
be developed by long and i^ersistent attention to 



CoNCHDixG Remarks. 107 

details, which at times grow tiresome and seem to 
be arbitrary and unnecessary. 

At the crucial hour the regiment must be present 
in full strength and must have its cartridge boxes 
full — it must be coherent, not to be broken up and 
scattered b}' something or anything that may 
happen to it — and it must be manageable under 
all circumstances. Wanting any of these qualities, 
it is simply a crowd of men of which nothing can 
be predicted with certainty except confusion and 
defeat. 

As these things came to be realized, some rules 
were adopted and persistentl}' enforced in our regi- 
ment, through a season of reluctance and grumb- 
ling, until they came to be habitually and cheer- 
fully observed. One of these was that there should 
be no straggling on the march, and no wandering 
from camp without permission. To this end, while 
in camp the men must be accounted for by the 
compan\' commanders at the several roll calls, and, 
if the camp was for more than a day or two, 
exercises were had, both to require the presence of 
officers cind men, and to promote the efficiency, steadi- 
ness and manageability of the regiment. While on 
the march, men w^ere forbidden to leave the column 
except with permission in case of necessity. At 
every halt for rest arms were stacked and absentees, 
if any, were noted and accounted for, or reported. 
Relieved of his musket, the tired soldier got his 
rest with his comrades, and the march was always 
resumed witii music by the band, whose members 
were also required to keep their places at the head 
of the regiment. When we encamped for the night 



198 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

our men were always on hand for supper . and a 
full night's rest, or for an^^ dut}' required. 

In the "March to the Sea" we lost not a single 
man from straggling or capture, while a good 
manv were so lost from other regiments. 

Our cartridge boxes were frequenth- inspected 
and kept full. Forty rounds of .58 calibre is no" 
light load, but the regiments whose men were 
allowed to waste or throw them aw^ay at their 
pleasure, often got into disgrace when suddenly 
called on for duty with empty boxes. 

The men themselves came to take pride in being 
always present and read3% ^^^ ^he records made 
by the regiment successiveh^ at Chicamauga, 
Mission Ridge, the Veteran Furlough, the March 
to the Sea and the Carolina Campaign, abundantly 
justifies the preparation and discipline through 
which they were achieved. 

At the beginning thirteen six-mule wagons were 
allowed for the transportation of each regiment, 
one for headquarters' tents, office and baggage, 
one lor quartermaster stores, one for the hospital 
outfit, and one for the tents and baggage of each 
companv. At this rate the wagons occupied as 
inuch space in the road as the regiment did, and 
when an armj^ corps marched with its brigade, divis- 
ion and corps supplies and ammunition trains, in 
addition to the regimental wagons, the trains 
quite overwhelmed the troops. 

So in the spring of 1863, when the "pup tents" 
were issued, the regimental trains were reduced to 
three wagons, and the other trains w^ere also 
reduced, though in a less proportion. 



CoNCLl'DIN'G KHMARKS. 191) 

This, in anticipation, seemed to be a great 
harflship, but it proved a positive advantage to 
the troops. The men now carried what they 
needed and, arriving at cainp, their comfort did 
not depend on the wagons coming in (as they 
often did not), and the roads being less encumbered 
with trains, the troops made their marches easier 
and quicker. 

Most of the regimental bands that went out 
with the troops disappeared during the first year; 
they were usually good musicians, but poor soldiers, 
and, discouraged b\^ the rough ways of war, 
neglected by the officers who should have looked 
after them, and despised by the men generally, 
they were mustered out as expensive super- 
numararies. 

Later on, in our regiment, the company musicians 
were organized into a band, of which we were 
justly very proud, and similar action was perhaps 
taken in other regiments. A good band, aKvays 
present for duty, even in battle, where they should 
care for the wounded, is a very important part of 
a regiment, worth all it costs the government in 
money or the Commander in care for its discipline 
and instruction. 

Early in the war issues were made to the 
regiments of axes and shovels for repairing roads, 
constructing rifle pits and other works of fortifica- 
tion, etc. They were habitually carried in the trains 
until the company wagons were taken away, but 
as the trains were usually in the rear and the tools 
in the bottoms- of the wagons, thcw were seldom 
available when most needed, and seldom in order for 



200 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

use when \vithin reach. Later the orders were that 
the men should carry these tools in addition to their 
regular loads. Under these orders the tools were 
invariabh' "lost" within the first two or three 
days, and when suddenl}^ they were wanted in some 
emergency, the temper of the general officer was 
also lost, to the great discomfort of subordinates. 

In our regiment, after some experience of this 
kind, a Lieutenant, Sergeant and Corporal, and two 
privates from each company were selected and 
called the "pioneers." They were all strong, active 
and skillful men, were armed only with army 
revolvers in the belt, and each of the twent}^ men 
carried an ax and two shovels. The}- camped and 
messed with their companies, but marched at the 
head of the regiment, always ready for any job in 
their line. They were inspected as carefully as were 
their comrades, and their axes were as keen and 
their shovels as bright as good care could keep 
them. On the march or in camp the "pioneer call" 
by the bugler brought this corps promptly to head- 
quarters duly equipped, and at a second call four 
more men from each company, leaving their guns 
with their comrades, joined the pioneers, and it w^as 
a tough job that was not soon disposed of by the 
sixty men. 

This corps and their eftective work attracted con- 
siderable attention, and the commander of the 14th 
corps, in more than one important emergency, wit- 
nessed and warml}^ commended their skill and 
prompt readiness. 

The matter of recruiting and keeping full the 
regiments in the field has been already alluded to 



CoNCLiDiNi; Kkmakks. 201 

ill the iiiirrative, but it deserves perhaps further 
notice. 

The continued call for men in the later years of 
the war no doubt fully taxed the Governors of the 
several states. To fill the existing regiments 
required only individual enlistments, but they had 
ceased to be spontaneous as they had been in the 
beginning, and it was much easier to raise a new 
regiment, with the active assistance of men who 
expected to be commissioned in it, than to enlist 
the same number of men for the regiments already 
at the front. 

Experienced officers could not usualh^ be called 
home from the field to recruit new companies or 
regiments, and so it often happened that a new 
regiment of a thousand men, with officers of little 
or no experience, arrived at the front. The War 
Department had decreed that, when an old regiment 
had less than the standard strength, a vacant 
Colonelcy should not be filled, and so in some of 
the brigades there were no Colonels in any of the 
regiments, and the brigade itself \vas commanded 
by a Lieutenant Colonel, fully competent after three 
years experience, to command it. 

To assign the new regiment to such a brigade 
would not only weaken it by the large addition of 
raw and unwieldy material, but would place the 
new Colonel at once in command of it, which 
might in the presence of the enemy result in disaster. 

So the new regiment was detached to some post 
or other duty, where, as in several instances ha])- 
pened, John Morgan or some other enterprising 



202 The Story of the Second Regiment. 

Confederate commander would capture the post, 
regiment, new guns and all. 

In Minnesota the practice was to appoint offi- 
cers from the older regiments to command the later 
ones, and more effort was made to recruit the old 
ones than in some other states. 

It is a common mistake to think and speak of 
the old soldiers as a pitiable lot of physical wrecks 
whose disability originated in the military service. 
This is far from the truth. A good many men 
undoubtedly suffer from such disabilities so incurred, 
but many of the survivors of the war are indebted 
to their militar}^ service not only for improved 
physical condition, but for such regulation, educa- 
tion and development of mind and character as have 
largely contributed to their success in civil life, and 
no class of men have in the past twenty-five years 
been more generall}' successful than the old soldiers. 
The four years training in habits of patience, courage, 
self reliance and persistence have given them qualities 
which count in their whole after life as no small 
recompense for the hardships and exposure of their 
army service. 

The veterans who survived the war are now old 
men, yet they are generally, I think, in better phy- 
sical condition than the average of other men of 
equal age. A soldier's life is, or should be, temper- 
ate, and restrained in respect to many vicious 
practices and with due care of himself in later years 
as in the service, the old soldier should be entitled 
to a comfortable passage down the evening tide of 
his life as he approaches and enters the Great 
Beyond. 



APPENDIX. 

[No. 1.] 

Adjutant General's Office. 

St. Paul, April 17th. 1861. 

Capt. J. W. Bishop, Chatfield. 

Sir : — With this find three copies of Governor's proclama- 
tion and order relative thereto. Will you please get your 
company- together upon receipt of this and report to me as 
to what course the\'will take as soon thereafter as possible. 
I hope to hear from 3'ou soon. 

Yours respectfully, 
Wm. H. Acker, Adjutant General. 

[No. 2.] 

TELEGRAM. 

St. Paul, April 22nd, 1861. 

J. W. Bishop, Chatfield, Minn., 

(Care of John Ball, Winona. ) 

Fill up at once and drill. Your company is accepted and 
under state pay. Await marching orders. I write by mail. 
iGNATirs Donnelly, Governor, ad interim. 



[No. 3.] 

Executive Office, 

St. Paul, April 22nd, 1861. 

Capt. J. W. Bishop, Chatfield, Minn. 

Your company is accepted. I have telegraphed you to- 
day. You must fill UD your ranks at once and be ready to 
march to St. Paul upon receipt of order from .\djutant Gen- 
eral which will ])r()bal)ly be delivered by a special agent. 

Very truly and respectfully, 

Ignatius Donneli v. 



204 Appendix. 

[No. 4.] 

Adjutant General's Office, 
St. Paul, Minn., April 26th, 1861. 
Capt. J. W. Bishop. 

Sir: — You are hereby ordered and required to deliver to 
the bearer, Wm. H. Shelly, Esq., fifty-nine rifle muskets, de- 
livered to Company "A," 3rd regiment, M. V. M. at the date 
of its organization, and the accoutrements accompanying 
the same, for the equipment of the regiment now^ forming. 
John B. Sanborn, Adjutant General. 



Chatfield, April 29th, 1861. 
I have this morning received from Capt. J. W. Bishop the 
above orders except swords. 

Wm. H. Shelly. 

[No. 5.] 

Chatfield, Ma3'4-th, 1861. 
To John B. Sanborn, Adjutant General, etc. 

Sir: — I am authorized to tender to you the "Chatfield 
Guards," eighty men, as unconditional volunteers in the 
service of the State or of the Federal government, to notify 
you that the3^ are ready for immediate service and will hold 
themselves thus in readiness, and to request that this tender 
be placed on file in your office, and that the "Chatfield 
Guards" may retain their position at the head of the list of 
companies already tendered and which were not accepted for 
the first regiment mustered in response to the call of the 
President. Very respectfully yours, etc., 

J. W. Bishop, Captain Chatfield Guards. 



[No. 6.] 

Chatfield, June 7th, 1861. 
John B. Sanborn, .\djutant General. 

Sir: — Hearing that the arms and equipments, ordered 
by Governor Ramsc}^ for the State, have been received at St. 
Paul, I venture to express the hope that ray requisition for 
sixty stand of arms, with equipments and ammunition, for 
the " Chatfield (guards " may be filled and forwarded at once. 

The "Guards" have sent for uniforms at their own ex- 
pense and all of the members who reside in this immediate 



Appendix. 205 

vicinity meet for drill every evening at 6:30 o'clock and on 
Saturday afternoons. It would add materially to the in- 
terest and profit of our drill to have the arms and ammuni- 
tion and the boys are getting a little impatient at the long 
delay in sending them. 

A tender of our company for any honorable service is on 
file in \'our ofiice and the "Guards" wnll, until the close of 
the war, hold themselves always at the "ready." 

Yours truly, 
J. W. Bishop, Captain "Chatfield Guards." 



[No. 7.] 

(Adjutant General's report for 1861, page 237.) 

General Headquarters, 

State of Minnesota. 
Adjutant General's Office, 
St. Paul, June 26th, 1861. 
Capt. Bishop, Second Regiment Minnesota Volunteers. 

You will take command of the post of Fort Snelling 
forthwith and so continue until further orders; and you are 
hereb3' announced as such commander and will be obeyed 
and respected accordingly. 

By order of the Commander in Chief, 

John B. Sanborn, Adjutant General. 



[No. 8.] 



CAPTURED FLAGS. 



(War of the Rebellion, oflncial records, Series 1, Vol. 7, page 
82.) 

Headquarters 1st Division, 
Department of the Ohio. 
Somerset, Kv., February 3r(l, 1S61. 

Brio. Genl. D. C. Buell, 

Commanding Department of the Ohio, Louisville, Ky. 
General : — I have the honor to forward to you by Cap- 
tain Davidson, 10th Kentucky volunteers, six Rebel flags; 



206 Appendix. 

one ca])tured on the battle field b_v the 2nd Minnesota reg- 
iment, the others taken in the intrenchments b3'officers and 
men of the other regiments. Col. Kise reports that his men 
captured three stands of colors, but none have been sent to 
these headquarters. I have ordered him to turn them in, 
and will forward them as soon as received. In the box with 
the colors is the regimental order book of the 15th Alissis- 
sippi rifles, and abookof copies of all Gen. Zollicoffer's orders 
from the organization of the brigade until a few days before 
the battle. I am. General, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

Geo. H. Thomas, 
Brigadier General, U. S. Volunteers, commanding. 



[No. 9.] 

Report of Col. H. P. Van Cleve, commanding reg't. 

(War of the Rebellion, official reports. Series 1, Vol. 7, page 
95.) 

He.\dou.\rters 2nd Regiment, 

Minnesota Volunteers. 

Camp Hamilton, Ky., January 22nd, 1862. 

Sir : — I have the honor herewith to submit my report of 
the part taken by the 2nd Minnesota regiment in the action 
of the Cumberland on the 19th inst: 

About seven o'clock on the morning of that day, and before 
breakfast I was informed by Col. Manson, of the lOth Indiana 
commanding the 2nd brigadeof our division, that the enemy 
was advancing in force and that he was holding them in 
check, and that it was the order of Gen. Thomas that I 
should form my regiment and march immediateh' to the 
scene of action. Within ten minutes we had left our camp 
and were marching toward the enemy. Arriving at Logan's 
field, by 3^our order, we halted in line of battle, supporting 
Standart's battery, which was returning the fire of the en- 
emy's guns, whose balls and shells were falling near us. As 
soon as the 9th Ohio came up and had taken its position on 
our right we continued our march, and after proceeding 
about half a mile we came upon the enemy, who were posted 
behind a fence along the road, beyond which there was an 
open field broken by ravines. The enemy, opening upon us, a 



Appendix. 207 

galling fire fought desperately, and a hand-to-hand fight 
ensued, which lasted about thirt\' minutes. 

The enemy having met with so warm a reception in front, 
and also having been flanked on their left b\- the 9th Ohio, 
and ontheirright by a portion of our left, who, by their well 
directed firedrovethem from behind their hidingplaces, gave 
way, leaving a large number of their dead and wounded on 
the field. We joined in the pursuit which continued till near 
sunset, when we arrived within a mile of their intrench- 
ments, where we rested on our arms during the night. The 
next morning we marched into their works which we found 
deserted. The enemy had crossed the Cumberland. 

Six hundred of my regiment were in the engagement, 
twelve of wdiom were killed and thirty-three wounded. 

I am well satisfied with the cotiduct of m3f entire com- 
mand during the severe and close engagement in which they 
took part. Where all behaved so well I have no desire to 
make individual distinction. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

H. P. VanCleve, 
Colonel commanding 2nd Minnesota Volunteers. 



[No. 10.] 

BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS. 

List of killed and wounded in 2nd Minn. 
(Official files, .\djutant General's office, state of Minnesota.) 

KII.T.KD. WOUNDED — CONTINUED. 

Xaaies. Rank and Cu. Names. Rank and Co. 

H. C. Reynolds Private B O. P. Kenne Private E 

Mile Crumb Private B Anton Morgenstern Serg'nt G 

Wm. H. H. Morrovi- Private D Frank Kiefer Private G 

Fred Bohmbach Private G Chas. Schultz Private G 

John B. Cooper Private B Chas. Yankc Private G 

.\ndre\v Dresco Private B Henry H. Hamnien Private G 

H. R. Thompson Private E Wm. Kemper Private G 

Gustave Rommel Private G Geo. Dehnning Private (i 

Fred Stomshorn Private G Henry Clinton Private I 

Jacob Warner Private G Thos. McDonough 1st Sgt. K 

Sam. H. Parker Private I F. V. Hotchkiss Corp'l K 

Frank Schneider Private I Alex. Grant Corp'l K 

WOUNDED. J B. P'omeroy Corp'l K 

Wm. Markham Capt. B John Benson PrivateK 

Tcnbroek Stout 2nd Lieut. I Henry F. Cook PrivateK 

E;d. Cooper Corp'l B Alc,\. Partman PrivateK 

W. C. Smith Private B W. K. Haskins PrivateK 

Ira G. Walden Private B John Smith PrivateK 

John Etzel ...Private B P. S. Barnett PrivateK 

Cornelius White Private B Thos Johnson PrivateK 

J. B. Chamber Private B G. Plowman PrivateK 

John Mabold Private E C. F. Westland PrivateK 

J. K. Brown Private E 



208 Appendix. 

(No. 11.) 

Report of Col. Robert L. McCook, Commanding Brigade. 

(War of Rebellion, Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 7, 

page 98). 

Heaiiquarters 3ri) Brigade, 1st Division, 

Department of the Ohio. 
Somerset, January 27th, 1862. 

Sir : — I have the honor respectfully to submit the follow- 
ing report of the part which my Brigade took in the battle 
of the Cumberland, on the 9th inst. 

Shortl3^ after seven a. m.. Col. Manson informed me that 
the enem\^had driven in his pickets and were approachingin 
force. That portion of the l3rigade with me, the 9th Ohio 
and 2nd Minnesota Regiments, were formed and marched 
to a point near the junction of the Mill Springs and Cum- 
berland roads, and immediately in the rear of Wetmore's 
batter3', the 9th Ohio on the right and the 2nd Minnesota 
on the left of the Mill Springs road. From this point I 
ordered a company of the 9th Ohio to skirmish the woods 
on the right to prevent any flank movement of the enemy. 
Shorth" after this, Col. Manson, commanding the 2nd brig- 
ade, informed me in person that the enemy were in force 
and in position on the top of the next hill be\-ond the 
woods, and that they forced him to retire. I ordered my 
brigade forward through the w^oods in line of Ijattle skirt- 
ing the Mill Springs road. The march of the 2nd Minne- 
sota was soon obstructed by the 10th Indiana, which was 
scattered throvigh the woods waiting for ammunition. In 
front of them I saw the 4th Kentucky engaging the enem\-, 
but evidently retiring. At this moment the enemy with 
shouts advanced on them about 100 3'ards and took posi- 
tion within the field on the hilltop near the second fence 
from the woods. At this time I received your order to 
advance as rapidh^ as possible to the hilltop. I ordered 
the 2nd Minnesota Regiment to move by the flank until it 
passed the 10th Indiana and 4th Kentucky- and then de- 
ploy- to the left of the road. I ordered the 9th Ohio to 
move through the first corn field to the right of the road 
and take position at the farther fence, selecting the best 
cover possible. The position of the 2nd Minnesota Regi- 
ment covered the ground formerl}- occupied b^' the 4th Ken- 
tucky and 10th Indiana, which brought their right flank 
within about ten feet of the enemv where he had advanced 



Appendix. 209 

upon the 4th Kentucky. The 9th Ohio position checked an 
attempt on the part of the enemy to Hank the position 
taken by the 2nd Minnesota and consequently brought the 
left wing almost against the enemy, -where he was sta- 
tioned behind straw^ stacks and piles of fence rails. An- 
other regiment was stationed immediately in front of the 
9th Ohio, well covered by a fence and some woods, a small 
field not more than sixty yards wide, intervening between 
the positions. The enemy also had possession of a small 
log house, stable and corn-crib, about fifty yards in front of 
the 9th Ohio. 

Along the lines of each of the regiments, and from the 
enemj'^'s front a hot and deadh' fire opened. On the 
right wing of the 2nd Minnesota regiment the contest was 
at first almost hand-to-hand ; the enemy and the 2nd Min- 
nesota were poking their guns through the same fence. 
However, before the fight continued long in this way, that 
part of the enemj^ contending wath the 2nd Minnesota regi- 
ment, retired in good order to some rail piles hastily thrown 
together, the point from which the}^ had advanced upon 
the 4th Kentucky. This portion of the enem}^ obstinately 
maintaining their position and the balance remaining as 
before described, a desperate fire w^as continued for about 
thirty minutes, with seemingly doubtful results. The im- 
portance of possessing the log house, stable and corn-crib 
soon Ijecame apparent and companies A, B, C and D, of the 
9th Ohio were ordered to flank the enemy upon the extreme 
left and obtain possession of the house. This done, still the 
enemy stood firm to his position and cover. During this 
time the artillery of the enemy constantly overshot my 
brigade. Seeing the superior number of the enemy and 
their bravery, I concluded the best mode of settling the con- 
test was to order the 9th Ohio regiment to charge the 
enemy's position with the bayonet and turn his left flank. 
The order was given the regiment to empty their guns and 
fix bayonets; this done, it was ordered to charge. Every 
man sprang to it with alacrity and vociferous cheering, the 
enemy seemingly prepared to resist it, but before the regi- 
ment reached him the lines began to give way. But few of 
them stood, possibly ten or. twelve. 

This broke the enemy's flank and the whole line gave 
way in great confusion, and the whole turned into a perfect 
rout. As soon as I could form the regiments of my brigade 
L pursued the enemy to the hospital, whci'e you joined the 
advance. I then moved mv command forward imder orders 



210 Appendix. 

in line of battle to the foot of Moulden's Hill, passing on 
the way one abandoned cannon. 

The next morning we marched into the deserted works 
of the enemy, and on the following da^^ returned to our 
camp. At tiie time of the first advance of the 9th Ohio, I 
was shot through the right leg below the knee. Three 
other balls passed through my horse and another through 
m3' overcoat. After this I was compelled to go on foot till 
I got to the hospital of the enemy. About the time I was 
shot in the leg aid-de-camp Andrew S. Burt was shot in 
the side. 

Too much praise cannot be awarded to the company' 
oflficers, non-commissioned officers and the soldiers of the 
two regiments. Notwithstanding they had been called out 
before breakfast and had not tasted food all day, they con- 
ducted themselves throughout like veterans, obeying each 
command and executing every movement as though they 
were on parade. Although all the officers of the command 
evinced the greatest courage and deported themselves under 
fire in a proper soldierly manner, were I to fail to specify 
some of them, it would be great injustice. Lieut. Andrew 
S. Burt, aid-de-camp, of the 18th U. S. infantry; Hunter 
Brooke, private of the 2nd Minnesota regiment and volun- 
teer aid-de-camp, Maj. Gustave Kammerling commanding 
the 9th Ohio ; Capt. Charles Joseph, Co. A ; Capt. Fred- 
rick Shroder, Co. D; Geo. H. Harries, Adjutant, of the 9th 
Ohio regiment; Col. H. P. Van Cleve, James George, Lieut. 
Col. Alex. Wilkin, Major of 2nd Minnnesota, each displayed 
great valor and judgment in the discharge of their respec- 
tive duties, so much so, in my judgment, as to place the 
country and everv honest friend thereof under obligations 
to them. 

In conclusion, permit me, sir, to congratulate you upon 
the victory achieved and allow me to express the hope that 
your future efforts will be crowned with the same success. 

Attached you will find the number of the force of my 
brigade engaged, and also a list of the killed and wounded. 

I am respectfully yours, 

Rob't. L. McCook, 

Col. 9th Ohio Regiment. 

Commanding 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Dept. of Ohio. 
Brig. Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, commanding 1st Division. 



Appendix. 211 

[No. 12.] 

Report of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, commanding division. 
( War of Rebellion, Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 7, page 79. ) 

Headquarters 1st Division, 
Department of the Ohio. 
Somerset, Ky., January 31st, 1862. 
Captain: — I have the honor to report that in carrying 
out the instructions of the general commanding the depart- 
ment, contained in his communication of the 29th of 
December, I reached Logan's cross roads, about ten miles 
north of the entrenched camp of the enemy on the Cumber- 
land river, on the 17th inst., with a portion of the 2nd 
and 3rd brigades, Kenn\''s battery of artiller\% and a 
battalion of Wolford's cavalry. 

About 6:30 o'clock on the morning of the 19th the 
pickets from Wolford's cavalry encountered the enemy 
advancing on our camp, retired slow^ly and reported their 
advance to Col. M. D. Manson,commandingthe2nd brigade 
He immediately formed his regiment, the 10th Indiana, and 
took a position on the road to await the attack, ordering 
the 4th Kentucky (Col. S. S. Fry) to support him, and then 
informed me in person that the enemy were advancing in 
force, and what disposition he had made to resist him. I 
directed him to join the brigade immediately and hold the 
enemy in check until I could order up the other troops, 
which were ordered to form immediately and were marching 
towards the field in ten minutes afterwards. The battalion 
(jf Michigan engineers and Company " A," 38th Ohio (Capt. 
Greenwood), were ordered to remain as guards to the 
camp. 

Upon my arrival on the field soon afterwards I foimd the 
10th Indiana formed in front of their encampment, appar- 
enth' awaiting orders, and ordered them forward to the 
support of the 4th Kentucky, which was the only entire 
regiment then engaged. I then rode forward myself to see 
the enemy's position, so that I could determine what dis- 
I)Osition to make of mA' troops as they arrived. On reach- 
ing the position held iDy the 4th Kentucky, 10th Indiana 
and Wolford's cavalry, at a point where the roads fork 
leading to Somerset, I found the cnem\' advancing through 
a cornheld and evidently endeavoring to gain the left of the 
4th Kentucky regiment, which was maintaining its position 



212 Appendix. 

in a most determined manner. I directed one of my aides 
to ride back and order up a section of artillery and the 
Tennessee brigade to advance upon the enemy's right, and 
sent orders for Col. McCook to advance with his t'wo 
regiments, 9th Ohio and 2nd Minnesota, to support the 4th 
Kentucky and 10th Indiana. 

A section of Capt. Kenny's battery took position on the 
edge of the field to the left of the 4th Kentucky, and opened 
an efficient fire on a regiment of Alabamians which were 
advancing on the 4th Kentuck3\ Soon afterwards the 
2nd Minnesota (Col. H. P. Van Cleve) arrived, the Colonel 
reporting to me for instructions. T directed him to take 
the position of the 4th Kentucky and 10th Indiana, which 
regiments were nearly out of ammunition. The 9th Ohio, 
under the immediate command of Maj. Kammerling, came 
into position on the right of the road at the same time. 

Immediately after these regiments had gained their 
positions the enemy opened a most determined and galling 
fire, which was returned b^" our troops in the same spirit, 
and for nearh' half an hour the contest was maintained on 
both sides in the most obstinate manner. At this time the 
12th Kentucky (Col. W. A. Hoskins) and the Tennessee 
brigade reached the field, to the left of the Minnesota regi- 
ment, and opened fire on the right flank of the enemy, who 
then began to fall back. The 2nd Minnesota kept up a 
most galling fire in front and the 9th Ohio charged the 
enemy on the right with bayonets fixed, turned their flank 
and drove them from the field, the whole line giving awa\' 
and retreating in the utmost disorder and confusion. As 
soon as the regiments could be formed and refill their 
cartridge boxes, I ordered the whole force to advance. A 
few miles in the rear of the battlefield a small force of 
cavalry was drawn up near the road, but a few shots from 
our artillery (a section of Standart's battery) dispersed 
them, and none of the enemy were seen again until we 
arrived in front of their intrenchments. As we approached 
their intrenchments the division was deplo^^ed in line of 
battle and steadily advanced to the summit of the hill at 
Moulden's. From this point I directed their intrenchments 
to be cannonaded, which was done until dark by Standart's 
and Wetmore's batteries. Kennj^'s battery was placed in 
position on the extreme left, near Russell's house, from 
which point he was directed to fire on their ferry, to deter 
them from attempting to cross. On the following morn- 
ing Capt. Wetmore's battery was ordered to Russell's 



Appendix. 213 

house, and assisted with his Parrot guns in firing upon the 
ferry. Col. Manson's brigade took position on the left, 
near Kenny's battery, and every preparation was made to 
assault their intrenchments on the following morning. 
The 14th Ohio (Colonel Steedman) and the 10th Kentucky 
(Colonel Harlan) having joined from detached service soon 
after the I'ej^ulse of the enemA-, continued with their brigade 
in the pursuit, although they could not get up in time to 
join in the fight. These two regiments were placed in front 
in my advance on the intrenchment the next morning, and 
entered first. General Schoepf also joined me the evening of 
the 19th with the 17th, 31st and '38th Ohio. His entire 
brigade entered with the other troops. 

On reaching the intrenchments we found that the enemy 
had abandoned everything and retired during the night. 
Twelve pieces of artillery with their caissons packed with 
ammunition, one battery wagon and two forges, a large 
amount of ammunition, a large number of small arms, 
mosth' the old flint-lock muskets; 150 or 160 wagons, and 
vipwards of 1,0U0 horses and mules; a large amount of 
commissar\' stores, inti'enching tools and camp and garrison 
equipage, fell into our hands. A correct list of all the 
captured property will be forwarded as soon as it can be 
rnade up and the property secured. 

The steam and ferry boats having been burned b3' the 
enemy in their retreat, it was found impossible to cross the 
river and pursue them; besides, their command was com- 
pletely demoralized, and retreated in great haste and in all 
directions, making the capture in any numbers quite doubt- 
ful if pursued. There is no dovdjt but what the moral effect 
])roduced by their complete dispersion will have a more 
decided effect in re-establishing Union sentiments than 
thc^ugh the3^ had been captured. It affords me much 
pleasure to be able to testify to the uniform steadiness iuid 
good conduct of both officers and men during the battle, 
and I res])ectfully refer to the accompanying reports of the 
different commanders for the names of those officers and 
men whose good conduct was ])articularly noticed by them. 

I regret to have to report that Col. R. L. McCook, com- 
manding the 3rd brigade, and his aide, A. S. Burt, 18th U.S. 
Infantry, were both severely wounded in the first advance 
of the 9th Ohio regiment, but continued on duty until the 
brigade returned to camp at Logan's cross roads. 

Col. S. S. Fry, 4th Kentucky, was slightly wounded, 
whilst his regiment was gallantly resisting the advance of 



214 



Appendix. 



the enemy, during which time Gen ZoUicoffer fell from a 
shot from his (Col. Fr3^'s) pistol, which no doubt con- 
tributed materially to the discomfiture of the enemy. 



The enemy's loss as far as known is as follows: Brigadier 
General Zollicoft'er, Lieut. Bailie Peyton and 190 officers, 
non-commissioned officers and privates killed; Lieut. Col. 
M. B. Carter, Twentieth Tennessee; Lieut. J. W. Allen, Fif- 
teenth Mississippi; Lieut. Allen Morse, Sixteenth Alabama, 
and five officers of the medical staff and 81 non-commissioned 
officers and privates taken prisoners; Lieut. J. E. Patterson, 
Twentieth Tennessee, and A.J. Knapp, Fifteenth Mississippi, 
and 66 non-commissioned officers and privates, w^ounded, 
making 192 killed, 89 prisoners not wounded and 68 
wounded; total of killed, wounded and prisoners, 349. 

(Note — Crittenden reports 408 wounded and missing, 
which with the 192 dead, buried by Thomas, makes the 
enemy's loss 600.) 

Our loss as follows : 





Killed. 


Wounded. 


Troops. 


Officers. 


Men. 


Officers. 


Men. 






10 

8 

12 

6 


3 


72 




1 


19 




4 
4 


48 






31 


9th Ohio 




24 








Total 


1 


38 


13 


194 







A complete list of the names of our killed and wounded 
and of the prisoners is herewith attached. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Geo. H. Thomas, 

Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers, Commanding. 

Capt. J. B. Fry, A. A. G., 
Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Dept. of Ohio, Louisville, Ky. 



Appendix. 215 

(No. 13.) 

INSPECTION REPORT. 

( Official FiJes, Adjutant General's Office, State of Minnesota. ) 

Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, 

MuRFREESBORO, Tenn., February 7th, 1863. 
Sir : — The General commanding desires me to state that 
he is extremely gratified to learn, that your regiment is 
among the number, who may be held up as an example 
worthy of imitation. Men who submit to discipline cheer- 
fulU', and take soldier's pride in their "personnel," he feels 
confident can be relied upon in an emergency. 

The General desires you to read this letter on parade. 
I am, sir, ver}^ respectfully your obedient servant, 
( Signed ) James Curtis, 
Captain 15th U. S. Infantry and A. A. Inspecting General. 
To CoL. George, 

Commanding 2nd Minnesota Volunteers. 



[No. 14.] 

COMPLIMENTARY ORDERS. 

a 

{Publisher] in St. Paul Pioneer, February 28th 1863.) 

Headquarters 3rd Brigade, 
Near Nolinsvili.e, Tenn., February, 1863. 

The Colonel commanding the brigade, takes pleasure in 
commending the conduct and sturdy valor of Lovilo N. 
Holmes and fourteen non-commissioned officers and privates 
of Compau}^ H, 2nd Regiment Minnesota Volunteers, for 
the heroic defense made 1)3^ them near Nolinsville on the 
15th inst., against the attack of two companies ot rebel 
cavalry' numbering one hundred and twenty-five men, and 
repulsing them with loss. 

This little affair is one of the most creditable of the cam- 
jiaign and deserves to be remembered and cited as worthy 
the emulation of all. 

The Colonel desires that the names of these worthy men 
and brave soldiers may be ])reserved. 

First Sergeant Lovilo N. Holmes. 

Corporals Samuel Wright and William A. Clark, 



216 Appendix. 

Privates Nelson Crandall, James Flannigan, Samuel Les- 
lie, Louis Londrash, Charles Liscomb, Joseph Burger, By- 
ron E. Pay, Charles Krause, John Vale, Samuel Loudon, 
Milton Hanna and Homer Barnard, have his thanks. 
By order of P. Van Derveer, 

Colonel eommanding 3rd Brigade. 
John R. Beattv, 

A. A. Adjutant General. 

[No. 15.] 

GENERAL STEEDMAN'S REPORT. 

(Refers to No. 14.) 

{War of Rebellion, Official Records, Vol. 22, Part 1, page 
49, Series 1.) 

Report of Brig. Gen'l James B. Steedman. 

Concord Church, February 15th, 1863. 
Colonel: — A forage train often wagons from my com- 
mand, with escort of two companies of infantry ; and while 
four of the wagons guarded by 13 privates under the com- 
mand of a Sergeant, were being loaded one and a half miles 
from Nolinsville, were attacked by one hundred and fifty 
rebel cavalry. The Sergeant immediately formed his men, 
took shelter in a cabin near the w^agons and repulsed them, 
wounding five, three of whom I have prisoners, killing four 
horses, capturing three horses, seven saddles and three guns. 

Two of our men were slightly wounded. 

* * * *"* * * * 

Very respectfull3^, 

James B. Steedman, 
Brigadier General Third Division. 
Colonel. C. Goddard, 

Assistant Adjutant General and Chief of Staff. 

[No. 16.] 

BATTLES OF CHICAAIAUGA. 

Report of Col. James George, commanding regiment. 

( Official Files, Adjutant General's Office, State of Minnesota. ) 

Headquarters 2nd Regiment, 

Minnesota Volunteers. 
Chattanooga, Tenn. Sept. 25, 1863. 
General: — I have the honor to transmit the following 
report of the part taken by the 2nd regiment of Minnesota 



Appendix. 217 

volunteers in the battles of the 19th and 20th inst. near 
Crawfish Spring, Georgia : 

The regiment was placed in position at ten o'clock a. m. 
on the 19th on the extreme left of the brigade and next 
battery "I" 4th U. S. artillery, facing the south. A few 
minutes later the enemy approached in front in line to about 
300 3'ards and opened a heavy fire of musketry, which was 
returned with such effect as to repulse the attack ; in about 
ten minutes another attack was soon after made and met 
with a like repulse, the enemy falling back in disorder, 
entirely out of sight. 

About half-past ten o'clock sharp firing of musketr\^ was 
suddenly opened at some distance in our left and front which 
soon began to approach us. The cartridge boxes had been 
replenished, and the regiment was laid down in line to await 
its time; the men having been admonished to withhold their 
fire until the enemy should be within close range. 

There soon appeared approaching in disorder from the 
left front a line of our troops in full retreat and closely pur- 
sued b3' the enem3' who was cheering and firing furiously in 
their rear. It proved to be the regular brigade, the men of 
which passed over our line and were afterwards partially 
rallied in our rear and on our left. 

As soon as these troops had passed us, the further ad- 
vance of the enemy was checked by a volley from our line. 
A sharp contest with musketry followed which resulted in 
a few minutes in the complete repulse of the late exultant 
enem3% who fled from our front in confusion. 

About eleven o'clock a large force was discovered advanc- 
ing on us from the east and simultaneously from the north. 
Our front was immediately changed to the left to meet this 
attack, and after a few minutes fighting the enem3' seeming 
to be moved around to the north^vard ; our front was again 
changed to the left, under a hot fire, so that the regiment 
faced the northeast, and again finalU' to face the north as 
the enemy massed his troops for an assault from that direc- 
tion. The enemy charged desperately and were finally com- 
pletely repulsed and routed after a brief but blood3' contest. 

The fighting ended with us at about 11:30 A. M. Our loss 
was eight killed and fort3--one wounded, including two Com- 
missioned oflicers. None missing. The regiment commenced 
the battle with 384' officers and enlisted men. 

On the 2()th the regiment took place in the brigade with 
295 officers and men, forty men having been detached for 



218 Appendix. 

picket duty the previoixs evening and not relieved w^hen the 
regiment marched. 

At ten A. M. the regiment, on the right of the brigade was 
advanced into an open field to the support of a battery 
which was in action immediately on our right, the line fac- 
ing the east. Scarcely had the line been halted in its assigned 
place when a furious fire of musketry and artillery was 
opened on it from the edge of woods bordering the field on 
the north and 300 or 400 yards distant. The brigade front 
was instantl}' changed to the left, the movement being made 
in good order, though under fire, and our line at once opened 
on the enemy. After a few minutes firing a charge was 
ordered, and we advanced on the double-quick across the 
field and into the woods, driving the enemy back upon their 
suppoii;s. Here the engagement was continued for fifteen or 
twenty minutes, when the enemy moved off by their right 
flank, clearing our front and getting out of our range, even 
when firing left oblique. The regiment was then withdrawn, 
and the brigade reformed facing north. 

Presently an artillery fire w^as opened on us from the east, 
and our front was changed to face it. After remaining here 
in position for about half an hour, we were moved off a dis- 
tance of a mile or more to a hill on the right of our general 
line of battle, where at 2:30 p. m. we again became hotly 
engaged with musketry. The enemv charged repeatedly and 
desperately on our position here, but were repulsed by the 
cool and deadly fire of our rifles; the firing here continued 
without intermission until 4:45 p. m., when the enemy tem- 
porarily withdrew from the contest. Tw^o other attacks 
were afterv^^ards made on us here, but both were repulsed 
and darkness ended the fight at about 6:30 p. m. 

Our loss on this day was twenty-seven killed and seventy- 
two w^ounded, being more than one-third of our entire num- 
ber. None missing. Some eight or ten men of other com- 
mands who joined us temporarily were killed while bravely- 
fighting in our ranks. I regret that I cannot give their 
names and regiments. 

The conduct of the officers and men of my regiment was 
on both days uniformly gallant and soldier-like beyond 
praise. If any one of them failed in doing his whole duty I 
do not know it. 

Assistant Surgeon Otis Ayer, and Hospital Steward A. 
Buckingham, were captured from field hospital Sept. 20, 



ArrKNDix. 



219 



and are prisoners in the hands of the enemy. A good por- 
tion of our wounded men were left lying on the field and are 
now prisoners in hands of the enemy. 

I am General, very respectfulh-, 
Your most obedient servant, 

Jas. George, 
Commanding 2nd Minn. Vols. 



[No. 17.] 



BATTLES OF CHICAMAUGA. 



List of the killed and wounded in the Second Regiment, 
Minnesota Vols., during the late battles near Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn., Sept.' 19th and 20th, 1863. 

( Official Files, Adjutant GeneraVs Office, State of Minnesota. ) 



Name. Rank and Co. 

John B. Davis Major 

Peter G. Wheeler... Sergt. Maj. 

Abram Kalder Sergt. 

Thos. Fitch Corpl. 

M. D. E. Runals... .Private 

Ozias M. Work 

Eben E. Corliss 

Chas. A. Edwards. 
Manley S. Harris.. 

D. M. Morse 

Chas. A. Rouse 

Fred. H. Russell.... 

Robt. Smalley 

Abram Harkins Captain 

M. V. Dietre Corpl. 

A. V. Doty Private 

John L. Kenney 

Granville Farrier... 

Wm. Swan 

Manning Bailey.... 

E. V. Comstock 

F. Kelsey 

Chas. Lane 

C. J. Langc 

J. C. Kitchell 

David Bush 

H.G.Smith 



Nature of Wound. 

Flesh wound, temple. 

Flesh wound, chin. 

A Slight, in arm. 

A Severely, in nose and arm. 

A Severely, in left lung. 

A Severel3% in body and leg. 

A Slight, in head. 

A Slight, in hand. 

.•\ Slight, in hand. 

A Severely, in face and arm. 

A Severely, in head. 

A Severely, in arm. 

A Severely, in body. 

B Comp. fracture, right arm 

B Sevcrelj', in leg. 

B Fracture, left leg. 

B Severely, in leg. 

B Severely, in leg. 

B Severely, in arm. 

B Slight, in hand. 

B Slight, in hand. 

B Slight, in shoulder. 

B Slight, in shoulder. 

B Slight, in head. 

B Slight, in arm. 

B Slight, in shoulder. 

B Slight, in head. 



220 



Appendix. 



Name. Rank and Co. 

M. Thoenv 2nd Lieut. C 

Wm. Mills 1st Lieut. C 

M. L. Devereaux ...Sergt. C 

J.J. Casseday Corpl. C 

A. Hochstetter " C 

P. Grunenwald " C 

C. Matti " C 

M. Rowhan " C 

T. D. Orcutt " C 

G. H. Ames Private C 

J.B.Gere " C 

John Fern " C 

C. Alden " C 

D. C. Morgan " C 

A. R. Hall Sergt. D 

S. B. Holship " D 

E. B. Nettleton Corpl. D 

G.M.Gilchrist Private D 

W.H.Wiley " D 

G. W. Fowler " D 

John Spring " D 

Felix Carriveau " D 

Henry Vessey " D 

Chas. Clewett " ' D 

Ben S\4vester 1st Sergt. E 

A. A. Stone Sergt. E 

Solon Cheadle Corpl. E 

Nicholas Sons " E 

Eli Huggins " E 

I. W. French Private E 

James Flora " E 

James Spencer " E 

Lewis Swenson " E 

James Smith " E 

Joseph Smith " E 

Peter M. Freteuff.. " E 

Samuel Bowler " E 

W.L.Jones " E 

Edwin Knudson.... " E 

Benj. Warrant " E 

G. W. Wallace 1st Sergt. F 

Paul Caviezell Sergt. F 

Henrj^ Oaks Private F 

Thos. A. Tiernan... " F 



Nature of Wound. 
Slight, in wrist. 
Slight, in arm. 
Slight, in shoulder. 
Slight, in hip. 
Slight^ in head. 
Slight, in left side, 
Severely, in leg. 
Slight, in foot. 
Slight, in leg. 
Slight, in leg. 
Mortal, in both knees. 
Slight, in arm. 
Slight, in leg. 
SligTit, in leg. 
Severely, in breast. 
Slight, in head. 
Sliarht, in arm. 



in body, 
in head, 
in hand, 
n hip. 
in hands, 
in legr. 



Severely, 

Severely, 

Severelj% 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Slightly, in foot 

Slightly, m leg. 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severelv, 

Slightly, 

Slightly, 

Slightly, in side. 

Severely, 

Severely, 

Severely, 



in left arm. 
n leg and hip. 



in wrist, 
in shoulder. 

n side. 

n both legs. 

n shoulder. 



in hand, 
nleg. 
n shoulder. 



Slightly, in head. 
Severely, in hips. 
Severely, in right shoulder 
Slightly, in thigh. 
Severeh% in head. 
Severely, in foot. 



Appendix. 



221 



Name. Rank and Co. 

Jas. M. Thornton.. Private F 

Joseph Bird " F 

Michael McCarthy " F 

H. V. Ruraohr 1st Sergt.* G 

J.A.Smith Corpl. G 

Henr}^ Bush " G 

Peter Douthiel Private G 

Peter Frcvman " G 

Chas.Janke " G 

Geo. Reed " G 

Batetis Weber " G 

Thos. G. Quay\e....2m\ Lieut. H 

Josiah Keene Sergt. H 

Milton Hanna Corp. H 

John S. Hilliard " H 

A.B.Rose " H 

Saml. Loudon Private H 

S.A.Mitchell " H 

Chas. Krause " H 

Bvron E. Pav " H 

Cyrus W. Sm'ith.... " H 

Lewis Londrosh.... "' H 

E. T. Cressev " H 

Albert Gesel" " 'H 

Albert Parker Corpl. I 

Adam Wickert " I 

H.T.Whipple Private I 

W. S. Wells " I 

C. C. Handy " I 

Isaac Lavman " I 

D. S. Coverdale 2nd Lieut. K 

John R. Barber Corpl. K 

Robt. McClellan... .Private K 

Edwin Baird " K 

V. R. Barton " K 

Lyman S. Martin.. " K 

John McAlpin " K 

Henr}' Roberts " K 

John Shouts " K 

Wm. Hamilton " K 

John C. Smith " K 

Samuel Fleming " K 

Chas. Fcwster 1st Sergt. A 

Norman E. Case.... Corpl. A 



Nature of Wound. 
Severely, in foot. 
Slightly, in thigh. 
Slightly, in leg. 
Severeh', in nose. 
Severely, in arm. 
Slightly, in 
Severely, in shoulder. 
Severely, in head. 
Severeh',in hands and leg. 
Slighth', in thigh. 
Severely, in side. 
Slightly, in left hip. 
SevereK', in left arm. 
Severely, in leg. 
Severel}^ in leg. 
Mortally, in hip. 
Slightly, in leg. 
Severely, in leg. 
Mortally, in body. 
Severel3% in shoulder. 
Severely, in arm and foot. 
Slightly, in hand. 
Slightlv, in shoulder. 
Slighth'. in foot. 
Severely, in thigh. 
Slightly, in side. 
Severely, in foot. 
Severeh', in thigh. 
Slighth% in finger. 
Severeh^ in arm. 
Slightly, in left hiji. 
Slightly, in finger. 
Mortally, in body. 
Severely, in arm. 
Severeh^ in hand find leg. 
Severely, in arm. 
Severely, in both' and leg. 
Severely, in side. 
Severely, in side. 
Severely, in wrist. 
Severely, in shovtlder. 
Slightlv, in knee. 
Killed." 



222 Appendix. 




Name. Rank and Co. Nature 


of Wound 


C. S. Cutting Corpl. 


B Killed. 




S. D. Calvert Private 


B 




A. H. Palmer 


B 
.B 




S.Taylor 




F. I. Crabb " 


B 




J. McAuliff Sergt. 


C 




Jacob Martig Private 


C 




C. Schilt 


C 
C 




S. B. Neros 




Wm. Dudley Sergt. 


D 




John Sherburne Corp. 


D 




Alfonso Bogan Private 


D 




Geo. H. Fry 1st Sergt. 


F 




D B. Griffin Corpl. 


F 




Cornelius Holland. Private 


F 




Herman Raduentz. " 


G 




Charles Schuele 


G 




Jacob Seibert 


G 




Francis T.Sutorius " 


G 




John M. Foster Sergt. 


H 




Nicholas Weiss Corpl. 


H " (wounded onl 


John B. Hopew^ell ..Private 


H 




Alfred W. Bigelow.. " 


H 




Wm. H. Weagunt.. 


H 




Arnold Cochrane. ..Corpl. 


I 




Wardwell Mathers. Private 


I 




Wm. McCurdy 


1 




Joseph Shonmaker. " 


I 




Freeman Schneider. " 


I 




I. B. Pomeroy Sergt. 


K 




Alex. Metzger Corpl. 


K 




John A. Cutting Private 


K 




Jas. A. Bigelow " 


K 




Total commissioned offi 


icers wounded. 


6 


Total enlisted men wounded 


107 


Total enlisted men killed 


35 



Total loss 148 

Assistant Surgeon Otis Ayer and hospital 
Steward, F. Buckingham captured at field 
hospital 2 

The above is as complete a list of the casualities of the 2nd 
Minnesota regiment as can be obtained at the present time; 



Appendix. 



223 



many of those wounded in the second day's fight were left 
in the enemy's hands. The regiment behaved most gal- 
lantly, not a man left the ranks but that was known to be 
either killed or wounded. The wounded at this place are 
doing well, and are as comfortable as could be expected. 

Lt. Albert Woodbury, 2nd Minnesota Battery, is here, 
severely wounded in the left arm above the elbow joint. 
I remain, yours truly, 

M. C. 'Toi.man, 
Surgeon 2nd Minnesota Volunteers, 
Medical Director 3rd Division, 14th A. C, D. C. 

These men were detailed to care for our wounded men 
and were captured in performing that dut\' : 
George A. Baker, private, Co. B. 



Jediah Furman, 


" B. 


Hiram A. Stewart, 


" B. 


Ashley W. Wood, 


" B. 


John Stuekey, 


" C. 


Charles Sw^eenev, 


" C. 


Peter Walrick, ' 


" C. 


Washington Maguire, ' 


" D. 


Henr\' Oaks, 


" F. 


Uriah S. Karmany, ' 


" H. 


John S. Bertrand, 


" I. 


William B. Haskin, 


" K. 



12 captured. 

Total loss 162, 42 2-10 per cent of 384 men engaged. 



(No. 18.) 



BATTLE OF CHICAMAUGA. 



Supplementary report b^^ Col. James George. 

(Adjutant GeneraPs Report for 1863, State of Minnesota). 

Headqi'arters Second Minnesota 

Regiment Voei'ntekrs, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, September 30, 1863. 
General : — For the purpo.se of placing on record the 
names of those ofliccrs and men, who for gallant and meri- 
torious conduct on the battlefield of the Chicamauga are 
entitled to special mention, I respectfully submit the fol- 
lowing list as supplementary to the general report of the 
operations of my regiment, a copy of which has alread}' 
been transmitted to vour office. 



224 



Appendix. 



I am under special obligations to mj^ stafif and field offi- 
cers. More praiseworthy^ exhibitions of coolness and cour- 
age under fire were never made upon any field of battle. 
They each deserve much of their country, not only for their 
gallant conduct in these battles, but for their uniform 
industry and ability in the faithful discharge of every duty. 
Such officers are a credit to the State and to the service. 

Lieut. Col. J. W. Bishop had his horse shot under him in 
the second day's battle, but kept his place on foot, it being 
impossible at the time to get a re-mount. 

Major John B. Davis also had his horse shot under him, 
and was soon after wounded in the forehead with a frag- 
ment of shell, but kept his post during the battle, which 
lasted several hours afterwards. 

Adjutant James W. Wood had his horse shot under him, 
but continued in the active discharge of his duty on foot. 

Assistant Surgeon William Brown was engaged in dress- 
ing the wounded on the field, and frequenth' under fire 
both days. 

Assistant Surgeon Otis Ayer remained at his post attend- 
ing to our wounded, and while thus in the discharge of his 
duty became a prisoner. He was afterwards exchanged 
and has re-joined his regiment. 

Of the company officers, there were present with their 
respective companies, and each in the energetic, faithful and 
fearless discharge of his dut3^ the following : 
Capt. Abraham Harkins, Co. B, severely wounded 2nd day. 



Capt. John Moulton, Co. 
Capt. J. C. Donahower, 
Capt. D. B. Loomis 
Capt. C. F. Meyer, 
Capt. C. S. mine, 
Capt. W. W. Woodbury, 
1st Lieut. Levi Ober, 
1st Lieut. W. W. Wilson, 
1st Lieut. H. K. Couse, 
1st Lieut. S. G. Trimble, 
1st Lieut. J. S. Livingston, 
1st Lieut. H. V. Rumohr, 
1st Lieut. L. N. Holmes, 
1st Lieut. Tenbroek Stout, 
2nd Lieut. E. L. Kenny, 
2nd Lieut. M. Thoeny, 
2nd Lieut. H. Lobdell, 
2nd Lieut. T. G. Scott, 
2nd Lieut. T. G. Quale, 
2nd Lieut. D. S. Coverdale, 



D. 
E. 
F. 
G. 

I. 
K. 

A, commanding his companv. 
B. 

C, commanding his companv. 
D. 
F. 

G, wounded in face 2nd day. 
H. commanding his companv. 

I. 
A. 

C, wounded in hand 1st dav. 
D. 
E. 

H, wounded in hip 2nd da\^ 
K, wounded in thigh 1st day. 



Appendix. 225 

Sergt. Maj. P. C. Wheeler was slightly wounded in the 
chin the first day. 

Orderly M. D. E. Runals and bugler Albert Gsell are 
entitled to special mention for their gallant and prompt 
discharge of their duties, under fire. Both were severely 
wounded. 

The following named men are also reported to me In' 
their company commanders as having sj^ecially distin- 
guished themselves in the line of dut3', on the battlefield, 
while without exception, all present are credited with gal- 
lant and soldier-like conduct : 

Sergeant Alonzo Worden, Corporal A. McCorkle, and 
Private James W. Stewart, of Compau}' A. 

Sergeants John McAulift' and Robert S. Hutchinson and 
Private James B. Gere, of Compan3' C. 

Sergeants Albert R. Hall and RoUin A. Lampher and 
Private Gideon M. Gilchrist, of Company D. 

Sergeant Benjamin S3'lvester, Corporal O. P. Renne and 
Private Michael Horrigan, of Compan3^ E. 

Corporal John A. Smith and Privates Janke and Weber, 
of Compan3' G. 

Private William S. Wells, of Company I. 

Sergeants A. H. Reed and John D. Burr and Private 
William B. C. Evans, of Compan3' K. 

Verv respectfulh' 3'ours, etc., 
OscwR Malmros, J. George, 

Adjutant General. Colonel Commanding 

State of Minnesota. 2nd Minnesota Volunteers. 



(No. 19.1 

battCe of CHICAMAUGA. 

Report of Col. F. Van Derveer, commanding Brigade: 

{Official Files, Adjutant Gencial's Office, State of Minne- 
sota. ) 

HEAOyUARTERS 3RI) BRIGADE, 

3rd Division, 14tii A. C, 
Ch.^ttanooga, Tenn., Sept. 25th, 1863. 
Capt. Louis J. Lambert, A. A. G.: 

Captain: — I have the honor to report the i)art taken by 
the 3rd Brigade in the actions of the 19th and 20th inst., 
near the Chicamauga. My command consisted of the 2nd 
Minnesota, Col. George; the 9th Ohio, Col. Kammcrling; 
the 35th Ohio. Lt Col. Boynton; the 87th Indiana, Col. 
15 



226 Appendix. 

Gleason; and Battery "I," 4th Artillery, 1st Lt. F. G. 
Smith. Our effective strength on the morning of the 19th 
inst., was 1,788 officers and men. 

After a fatiguing march during the night of the 18th, 
and without any sleep or rest, whilst halting near Kelly's 
house on the Rossville and Lafa3'ette road, I received an 
order from Brig. Gen. Brannan, commanding the 3rd Divis- 
ion, to move with haste along the road to Reed's bridge 
over the Chicamauga, take possession of a ford near that 
point and hold it. I immediateh' moved southward to 
McDaniel's house, and thence at I'ight angles eastwardlv 
toward the bridge. A short distance from McDaniel's I 
formed the brigade into two lines, sent skirmishers to the 
front and advanced cautiously, though without losingtime, 
one and one-half miles. In the meantime brisk firing was 
progressing on my right, understood to be maintained by 
the 1st and 2nd Brigades of this Division. 

Being without a guide and entirely unacquainted with 
the country, I am unable to state how near I went to 
Reed's bridge, but perceiving from the firing on my right 
that I was passing the enemy's flank, I wheeled my line in 
that direction and began feeling his position with my 
skirmishers. About this time I received an order, stating 
that the 2nd brigade was gradually giving back, and that 
it was necessary I should at once make an attack. This 
we did with a will ; the first line, composed of the 35th 
Ohio on the right, and the 2nd Minnesota on the left, 
moving down a gentle slope, leaving the 87th Indiana in 
reserve on the crest of the hill. 

At this time the 9th Ohio, which had charge of the 
ammunition train of the division, had not arrived. Smith's 
battery, composed of four twelve-pound Napoleons, were 
placed in position in the centre and on the right of the line. 
The enemy having discovered our position opened a furious 
fire of artillerv and musketry, which was replied to 
promptly and apparently with considerable effect, for in 
half an hour the enemy slackened his fire and his advance 
line was compelled to fall back. I took advantage of this 
movement to bring forward the 87th Indiana, and by a 
passage of lines to the front carried them to the relief of the 
35th Ohio, which had already suffered severely in the 
engagement. This movement was executed with as much 
coolness and accuracy as if on drill. Scarcely was the 87th 
Indiana in line before fresh forces of the enem3' were brought 



Appendix. 227 

up, in time to receive from us a terrible volley which made 
his ranks stagger and held him some time at bay. 

The 9th Ohio, which I had previously sent for, arrived at 
this moment. I placed it on the right of my line. Still fur- 
ther to the right a section of Church's battery and the 17th 
Ohio, which had been ordered to report to me, were in 
position as the enem3' slackened their fire. Col. Kammerling, 
chafing like a wounded tiger that he had been behind at the 
opening, ordered his men to charge ; away they went, 
closely followed b3^ the 87th Indiana and 17th Ohio, the 
enemy falling back precipitately. The 9th in this charge 
recaptured the guns in Guenther's battery, 5th artiller}-, 
and held them. 

In the meantime the enemy, massing his forces suddenlj-, 
appeared upon m3^ left and rear ; he came forward several 
lines deep at a double-quick, and opened a brisk fire, but 
not before I had changed my front to resist him. My new 
line consisted of the 2nd Minnesota on the right, next one 
section of Smith's batterj', commanded b^- Lieut. Rodney, 
then the 87th Indiana, flanked by Church's and the other 
'sections of Smith's batter^', and on the extreme left the 
35th Ohio. The two extremities of the line formed an 
obtuse angle, the vertex on the left of the 87th Indiana, 
and the opening toward the enemy. The 2nd Minnesota 
and 87th Indiana la^- on the ground and were apparenth' 
unobserved by the enemy, who moved upon the left of my 
lines, delivering and receiving a direct fire. Church opened 
with all his gvms, and Smith with one section. He advanced 
rapidly, mj' left giving wa}^ slowly until his flank was 
brought opposite m\^ right wing, when a murderous and 
enfilading fire was poured into his ranks b}' the infantrv' 
and b\' Rodne3''s section shotted with canister. Notwith- 
standing this, he moved steadih' up his second and third 
lines. 

Having observed his great force as well as the persist- 
ency- of his attack, I had sent messenger after mcs.senger to 
bring up the 9th Ohio, which had not 3'et returned from its 
charge made from my original site. At last, however, £ind 
when it seemed impossible for m3'' brave men to longer 
withstand the impetuous advance of the cnem3% the 9th 
came gallantly up in time to take part in the final struggle, 
which resulted in his sudden withdrawal. In this last at- 
tack his loss must have l^een ver3' severe. In addition to 
the heavN'fire of the infantry, our guns were pouring double 



228 ' Appendix. 

charges of canister in front and on his flanks, at one time 
delivered at a distance of not exceeding forty (40) yards. 

During the latter part of the contest reinforcements had 
arrived, and vi^ere by Gen. Brannan, then present, formed 
in line for the purpose of supporting m3^ brigade, but were 
not actively engaged at this time. Our dead and grounded 
were gathered up and a new line, under the supervision of 
Gen. Brannan, was formed. The enemy, however, made no 
further demonstration, and quietly withdrew. A small 
nvimber of prisoners were taken, who reported that the 
force opposed to us was two divisions of Longstreet's 
corps, one commanded by Gen. Hood. They fought with 
great obstinacy and determination, only retreating when 
fairly swept away b^^ our overwhelming fire. After the 
second withdrawal by the enemy our empty cartridge boxes 
were replenished b\^ wagons sent into the field 133^ the 
General commanding the division. 

After resting my command for an hour or more, I was 
ordered to report to Maj. Gen. Reynolds. Immediately 
moving towards his position, we arrived near Kelly's house 
just before sundown, and there, by direction of Gen. 
Brannan, went into bivouac. 

At 8 o'clock the next morning, Sunday, the 20th Sept., 
1863, my brigade was posted as a reserve in the rear of the 
1st and 2nd brigades of the division, formed in two lines of 
columns closed in mass, where we remained for about an 
hour, slowly moving over towards the left for the purpose 
of occupying the space between the 3rd and Reynold's 
division. There I received an order to move quickly over to 
the left and support Gen. Baird wdio, it was said, was being 
hard pressed by the enemy. I wheeled my battalions to the 
left, deployed both lines and moved through the woods 
parallel to the Chattanooga road, gradually swinging 
round my left until, when in rear of Reynold's position, I 
strvtck the road perpendicularly at a point just north of 
Kelly's house, near and back of his lines. 

On approaching the road, riding in advance of the 
brigade, my attention was called to a large force of the 
enemy moving southward in four lines, just then emerging 
from, the woods at a run, evidently intending to attack 
Reynolds and Baird, who were both hotly engaged, in the 
rear, and apparently unseen by those officers. I immediately 
wheeled my lines to the left, facing the approaching force, 
and ordered them to lie down. This movement was not 
executed until we received a galling fire, delivered from a 



Ari'ENnix. 229 

distance of two hundred (200) yards. At the same time a 
rebel battery placed in the road about live (5) or six (6) 
hundred 3'ards in our front, opened upon us with two (2) 
guns. My command continued to lie down until the enemy 
approached within sevent^'-five (75) feet, and the front line, 
composed of the 2nd Minnesota and 87th Indiana, delivered 
a murderous fire almost in their faces, and the 35th and 9th 
Ohio, passing lines quickly to the front, the whole brigade 
charged and drove the enemj^ at a full run, over the open 
ground, for over a quarter of a mile, and several hun- 
dred yards into the ^voods ; my men keeping in good 
order and delivering their fire as they advanced. The rebels 
fled hastily to cover, leaving the ground strewn with their 
dead and wounded. 

We took position in the woods, and maintained a de- 
termined combat for more than an hour. At this time I 
greatlv needed my battery, which had been taken from the 
•brigade early in the da3' by command of Maj. Gen. Negley. 
Finding a force moving on our right to support us, and the 
enemy being almost silenced, I ordered return to the open 
grounds south of the woods; this movement was executed 
by passing lines to the rear, each line firing as it retired. 
I learned from prisoners that the force we fought and put 
to flight this day was the division of the rebel Gen. Brecken- 
ridge. That we punished them severeh' was proved by 
their many dead and wounded, among the former of which 
were several field officers, and among the latter one general 
officer of high rank. 

I thence moved to a position on the road near Gen. 
Reynold's centre, and there remained resting my men and 
earing for my wounded for an hour or more. Although I 
had not reported to either Generals Reynolds or Baird, as 
ordered in the morning, I believe I rendered them very sul)- 
stantial assistance, and at a time when it was greatly 
needed. 

About two o'clock, hearing heavy firing to the right of 
the line, and learning that the high ground in that direction 
was being held by Gen. Brannan with a part of our division, 
I moved cautiously through the woods, and at 2:30 v. M. 
re])orted my l)rigade to him for duty. We were immediateh^ 
V)laced in the front, relieving his troops, then almost ex- 
hausted. The position was well selected and capable of 
being defended against a heavy force, the line being a crest 
of a hill, for the possession of which the eneniA- made most 
desperate and renewed attem])ts. I'Vomthis time until dark 



230 Appendix. 

we were hotly engaged. The ammunition failing and no 
supply on hand except a small quantity furnished by Maj. 
Gen. Gordon Granger, our men gathered their cartridges 
from the boxes of the dead, wounded and prisoners, and 
finally fixed ba^'onets, determined to hold the position. 
Here again the "9th Ohio made a gallant charge down the 
hill into the midst of the enemj', scattering them like chaff, 
atid then returning to their position on the hill. For an 
hour and one-half before dark the attack was one of unex- 
ampled fury, line after line of fresh troops being hurled 
against our position with a heroism and persistency which 
almost dignified their cause. At length night ended the 
struggle and the enemy having suffered a terrible loss, re- 
tired from our immediate front. 

During the latter part of the day the position directly on 
our right had been held by Brig. Gen. Steedman, but which, 
early in the evening had been withdrawn without our 
knowledge, thus leaving our flank exposed. From the silence 
at that point, Brig. Gen. Brannan suspected that all might 
not be right, and ordered me to place the 35th Ohio across 
that flank to prevent a surprise. This had scarcely been 
done before a rebel force appeared in the gloom directl}^ in 
their front. A mounted officer rode to within a few paces of 
the 35th and asked " What regiment is that ? " To this some 
one replied "The 35th Ohio." The officer turned suddenly 
and attempted to run awa^'. but our regiment delivered a 
voile}' that brought horse and rider to the ground, and put 
to flight the force. Prisoners said this officer was the rebel 
Gen. Gregg. 

At seven (7) o'clock p. m. an order came from Maj. Gen. 
Thomas that the forces under Gen. Brannan should move 
quietly to Rossville. This was carried into execution under 
the direction of Capt. Cilley, of m}' staff, in excellent order. 

During the whole of the two days' fighting my brigade 
kept well together, at all times obeying orders prompth'and 
moving with regularity and precision as if on drill. They 
were subjected to a very severe test on the 19th, when being 
actively engaged with the enemy, another brigade (not of 
our division) ran panic-stricken throiigh and over us, some 
of the officers of which shouted to our men to retreat, or 
the}' would certainly be overwhelmed, but not a man left 
the ranks and the ap])roaching enemy found before him a 
wall of steel. Private Savage, of Smith's battery stx-uck 
one of the retreating officers with his sponge and damned 
him for running against his gvin. 



Appendix. 231 

Our loss in the engagement of both days amounts to 13 
officers and 132 men killed, and 25 officers and 581 men 
wounded and 51 missing. The total loss being 802 men and 
officers. Doubtless many of those enumerated among the 
missing will be found either wounded or killed. There was 
no straggling and I have no doubt those not wounded or 
killed will be found prisoners in the hands of the enemy. It 
is n noticeable fact that the 2nd Minnesota had not a single 
man among the missing or a straggler, during the two days' 
engagement. 

I cannot speak too highly of the conduct of my officers 
and men ; without exception they performed all that was 
required, much more than could have been expected. 

Where all did so well, it seems almost unjust to make 
distinctions ; more gallantry and indomitable courage was 
never displayed upon the field of battle. 

The attention of the General commanding the division is 
particvdarly called to the conduct of CoT. James George, 
commanding 2nd Minn, vols.; Col. Gustavus Kammerling, 
commanding 9th Ohio vols.; Col. N. Gleason, 87tli Indiana 
vols.; Lt. Col. H. V. N. Boynton, commanding 35th Ohio 
vols.; and 1st Lieut. F.G. Smith, commanding battery "I," 
4th U. S. artillery. These officers performed every duty re- 
quired of thein with coolness and great promptness, and by 
their energy and gallantr}' contributed much to the favor- 
able i-esult which attended every collision with the enenu'. 

Such officers are a credit to the service and our country. 
Smith's battery rendered great help in the action of the 19th 
inst., and was ably and gallantlv served, Lieut. Rodney 
being cons]iicuous in the management of his section. 

Capt. Church of the 1st brigade, with one section of his 
battery, fought well and is entitled to credit he rendered mc 
on the'l9th. 

I cannot refrain from alluding to the reckless courage and 
dash of Adjt. Harris, of the 9th Ohio vols. 

My staff upon the field consisted of Capt. J. R. Beatty, 
2nd Minnesota vols.; A. A. A. G., Captains P. H. Parshall, 
35th Ohio, and B. B. Thoenssen, 9th Ohio; acting aids, 
Capt. C. A. Cilley, 2nd Minn, vols., Brig. Topographical 
Engineer, and 1st Lt. A. E. Alden, 2nd Minn, vols.. Brig. 
Inspector. For efficienc}-, personal bravery and energy', their 
conduct deserves more than praise. They exposed them- 
selves at all times watching the movements of the enemy, 
carrying orders, rallying the men, and b^' every means in 
their power contributing to the success of the brigade. 



232 ArPENDix. 

Capt. Parshall was killed early in the action of the first clay. 
He was a brave, noble soldier, an upright gentleman, and 
carries with him to the grave the love and regret of man\' 
friends. 

Capt. Thoenssen was missing the evening of the second 
da\^ and I believe was captured. Captains Beatt}' and 
Cilley had each tv\'o horses shot under them. 

There are many names particularlj^ commended for cour- 
age and good behaviour, for wdiich I respectfully refer to the 
reports of the regiments and the batter\-. 

We have lost many gallant officers and men, a list of 
whom is herewith furnished you. 

In the charge made b3^ the 9th Ohio on the 19th which 
recaptured the batter3^ of the regular brigade, their loss in 
killed and wounded \vas over fifty. 

I am. Captain, verv respectfullv, 
Your obedient servant. 
Official copy : (Signed) F. VanDekveek, 

James W. Wood. Col. com'd'g 3rd brigade. 

1st Lt. and Adjutant, 2d Minnesota vols. 



[No. 20.] 

COLONEL JAMES GEORGE RECOMMENDED FOR 
PROMOTION. 

{OfEcialFiles, Adjutant General's Office, State of Minnesota.) 

Headquarters 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 14th A. C. 
Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 9th, 1863. 
To the President of the United States : 

Sir: — I respectfulU^ recommend to your favorable con- 
sideration the name of Col. James George, commanding 
2nd Minnesota Vokmteers, for a commission as Brigadier 
General of Volunteers. 

Col. George is the senior Colonel in the service from his 
State, and has by his conduct in the late battles proved 
that he is \Vorthy of promotion. His regiment is remark- 
able for its steadiness, reliability and efliciency in action, 
which is attributable to his own coolness and intrepidity. 
Very respectfully, 3^our obedient servant, 
(Signed) F. Van Derveer, 

Col. Com'd's Brigade. 



Appendix. 233 

(Endorsements. ) 

Headquarters 3d Division, 14th A. C, D. C. 
Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 9, 1863. 
I cordially endorse the recommendation of Col. Van 
Derveer in this case. Col. George's conduct in command of 
his regiment came under m^^ personal observation in the 
battles of the 19th and 20th September, at "Chattanooga," 
in which he displaj-ed great bravery and coolness, and kept 
his regiment in admirable order during the fight of both 
days. 

(Signed) J. M. Brannan, 

Brig. Gen. Com'd'g Division. 

Headquarters 14th Army Corps. 
Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 10, 1863. 
Col. James George has commanded the 2nd Minnesota 
Volunteers for luore than eighteen months, this regiment 
has always been regarded as one of the best in the service, 
and has always been commanded b3' him with ability, 
shows that he is worth3' of promotion. I therefore cor- 
dially unite in the above recommendation. 

(Signed) Geo. H. Thomas, 

Maj. Gen. U. S. V. 
Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, 
Oct. 12, 1863. 
Col. George deserves the promotion asked, and I hope 
he will receive it. 

(Signed) W. S. Rosecrans, 

Maj. Genl. 

[No. 21.] 

(See regimental report of Mission Ridge in chapter ix of 
narrative.) 

BATTLE OF MISSION RIDGE. 

List of the killed and wounded. Second Regiment, Minne- 
sota Volunteers. 

( Official Files, Adjutant General's Office, State of Minnesota. ) 
company "a." 

1st Lieut. Levi Obcr Wounded slighth-. 

Corpl. A.J. Bolsinger " " 

Private Chas B. Rouse " severely. 

" Richard Rice " slightly. 

" Adam Mann " " 



234 Appendix. 

COMPANY "b." 

Sergt. John Westerman Killed. 

" Benjamin P.Talbot Wounded mortally, since died. 

COMPANY " C." 

Private Rincis DeGrave Wounded mortally, since died. 

" Samuel S. Kline " severely. 

" Riley Barnhaus " slightly. 

COMPANY "d." 

1st Lieut. Samuel G. Trimble. .Killed. 

Corpl. John S. Mullen Wounded severely. 

Private Joseph E. LeBlond " " 

" Jesse M. Williams " slightly. 

" Alexander Landrie " " 

COMPANY "e." 

2nd Lieut. Thos. G. Scott Wounded slightly. 

Sergt. Holder Jacobus " " 

" Thomas Hai-ney " " 

Corpl. N. C. Rukkee " severely. 

" Thomas Fowble " slightly. 

O P. Renne 

Private J. L. Henningson " " 

" Ole Hendrickson " " 

COMPANY " H." 

Private Samuel Loudon Killed. 

2nd Lieut. Thos. G. Quayle Wounded severely. 

Private James Pelkej' " mortally, since died. 

" William Gleason " severely. 

" Isaac Sherman " slightly. 

COMPANY "l." 

Corpl. J. Ira Tillotson Wounded severely. 

Private Stephen W. Miller " slightly. 

" Henr3' White " " 

" Ethan A. Hitchcock.... " " 

COMPANY " K." 

Corpl. Henry F. Koch Killed. 

Private George F. Lamphear.. " 

1st Sergt. A. H. Reed Wounded severely. 

Sergt. T. H. Pendergast " slightl3^ 

Private Philetus S. Barnett.... " severelv. 

Wm. B. C. Evans " " ' 

" Christian Kasmier '' " 



Appkndix. 235 

recapitulation. 

Officers killed 1 Officers wounded 3 

Enlisted men killed.... 4 Enlisted men wounded 31 

Total killed 5 Total wounded 34 

Total killed and wounded 39 

Total No. of officers and men engaged 185 

J. W. BiSHOi', 

Lt. Col. Corn'd'g. 

Paul Caviezel, Sergt. Company "F," wounded Oct. 5, 
died Oct 22, '63. 

Peter Peterson, private Company "E," wounded Oct. 
12, died Oct. 13, '63. 



[No. 22.] 

BATTLE OF MISSION RIDGE. 

Supplementary report b3^ Lt. Col. J. W. Bishop. 

( Official Files, Adjutant GeneraVs Office, State of Minnesota. ) 

Headquarters Second Regiment Minn. Vols. 
Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1863. 
Capt. John R. Beatty, A. A. A. G. 2nd Brig., 3rd Div., 
14th A. C: 

Captain: — For the pvirpose of placing on record the 
names of the officers and men of m3^ command who by 
gallant and meritorious conduct under fire, during the 
assault on Mission Ridge on the 25th ult., have entitled 
themselves to special mention, I respectfullj' submit the 
following report as supplementary to the general report 
already on file in your office. 

There were present and engaged on that occasion one 
hundred and seventy enlisted men of the regiment and the 
following named officers, every one of whom is entitled to 
creditable mention. 

Adjutant James W. Wood. 

Assistant Surgeon Wm. Brown. 

Captains C. S. Uline, 

" J. C. Donahower, 

" John Moulton, 

LeviOber. 



236 Appendix. 

1st Lieutenants Tenbroeck Stovit. 

" H. K. Couse,com'd'g his Co., 

S. G. Trimble, 

" W.W. Wilson, com'd'g liisCo., 

" L. A. Holmes, com'd'g his Co. 

2d Lieutenants T. G. Scott, 

John C. Jones, 

" Edw. L. Kenny, 

Thos. G. Quayle. 

To Capt. C. S. Uline, the senior of his grade in the 
regiment, was assigned the command of the two companies 
deployed to cover the formation and advance of the 
brigade in taking position for the assault ; this duty was 
skilfully discharged, and in the furious assault and in the 
melee on the ridge he especially distinguished himself by his 
gallant example and by his coolness and promptitude in 
directing the enthusiasm of those who followed him. 

1st Lieutenant Samuel G. Trimble, a gallant and faithful 
officer, was shot dead in the extreme front of the fight on 
the ridge. Beloved and respected by his comrades in life, 
his death in the ver\' moment of victory cast a cloud over 
our thanksgiving for the triumph for which he gave his life. 

2nd Lieut. Thomas G. Quayle fell at the head of his men 
in the melee on the ridge, severeh' wotmded in the right 
knee. 

Color Sergeant Holder Jacobus of Company "E" 
crossed lances with a i-ebel color sergeant over a Napoleon 
gun on the ridge, and for a moment the two disputed its 
possession. Only for a moment, however, and the gun with 
its mate was ours. Sergeant Jacobus was soon afterward 
wounded, and all of his guard save one were either killed 
or wounded. 

1st Sergeant Alex. H. Reed commanded his company 
("K") during the engagement, behaving with marked 
coolness and courage. He was severely wounded near the 
close of the fight on the ridge. 

1st Sergeant George W. Shuman, of Company "I," dis- 
tinguished himself by gallant conduct during the engage- 
ment, especially by taking the colors of the regiment from 
Corporal Mullen who had fallen wounded, and keeping 
them aloft and in front through the hottest of the fight. 

Sergeant Lafayette Hadley of Company "B," Thos. 
Harney of Company "E," and A. B. White of Company 
"K," are all entitled to special notice for gallantr>% as are 
also privates Cox, Alarsh and McNeal and many otherg^ 



Appendix. 237 

whose gallant deeds, though telling in the fight, were not 
especially observed and reported. 

I am. Captain, very respectfully, 

Your most obedient servant, 
(Signed) J. W. Bishop, Lt. Col., 

Com'd'g 2nd Minn. Vols. 



[No. 23.] 

BATTLE OF MISSION RIDGE. 

Report of Col. P. Van Derveer, commanding Brigade. 

( Official Files, Adjutant General's Office, State of Minnesota.) 

Headquarters 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 14th A. C. 
Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Capt. a. C. McClurg, a. A. A. Gen'l, etc. : 

Captain: — I have the honor to report the part taken l^y 
the 2d Brigade in the late engagements in front of Chat- 
tanooga. 

My command consisted of the 9th Ohio Vols., Col. G. 
Kammerling; the 75th Indiana, Col. M. S. Robinson; the 
87th Indiana, Col. Newell Gleason ; the 105th Ohio, Lt. 
Col. W. B. Tolles; 101st Indiana, Lt. Col. Thos. Doan ; 2d 
Minnesota, Lt. Col. J. W. Bishop: and the 35th Ohio, Lt. 
Col. H. V. N. Boynton; numbering in all 102 commissioned 
officers and 1,577 enlisted men. 

Having been supplied with one hundred rounds of 
ammunition to the man, on the afternoon of the 23d of 
November I moved to a position three-quarters of a mile 
in front of Fort Phelps with m}' brigade formed in two 
lines, the left resting upon the Moore road and the right 
near General Turchin's Brigade. Here we remained in 
line with a strong picket in front until 8 o'clock A. M. ; on 
the 25th, when in pursuance to orders from the General 
commanding the division, I deplo3'ed one regiment (35th 
Ohio) along my front and advanced it near without 
opposition — the enem3''s pickets having been withdrawn 
about da3d)reak that morning, and several small parties 
left for observation retiring in haste on our approach. 
Afterwards this regiment was ordered to join the brigade, 
when the division was moved to the left to and be\'ond 
Calico Creek, crossing it near its mouth. Passing but a 



238 Appendix. 

short distance from this creek an order came to counter- 
march, and we returned and took position about half a 
mile north of Bald Hill, facing, and twelve hundred yards 
distant from Missionary Ridge. 

At this point I formed my brigade in two lines ; The first 
composed of the 87th Indiana on the right; the 101st In- 
diana on the left, and the 35th Ohio in the centre. The 
second line was formed by the 75th Indiana, and 105th 
and 9th Ohio regiments. The 2nd Minnesota was placed 
in front of the brigade, with two companies under Capt. 
Uline, deplo3^ed as skirmishers, and the residue of the regi- 
ment behind them as a reserve. 

I ordered m3' skirmishers to advance to the edge of the 
woods, examine the position of the enemy and report their 
apparent strength in and about the rifle pits at the foot of 
the ridge. 

After remaining in this place for an hour, I was 
o'dered to move forward and take the rifle pits; tnis was 
about 4 o'clock p. m. 

I sent word to Lt. Col. Bishop to move at once with his 
skirmishers and reserve, and pushed up the brigade to keep 
within supporting distance. The rifle pits in our front 
appeared to be occupied b\' two battalions of the enemy, 
two stands of colors being visible upon their works. The 
skirmishers advanced gallantly into the open field, and 
under a heavy fire from the enemy's artillery on the ridge 
and musketry from the lower works, dashed forward at a 
double-quick without firing a shot. As they approached 
within one hundred and fifty yards of the enemy, great 
uneasiness was apparent among the men in the rifle pits, 
and by the time our skirmishers were at a distance of one 
hundred yards, they were retreating precipitately up the 
ridge to their I'ear. Lt. Col. Bishop immediately got his 
command under cover of the enemy's works, and within five 
minutes of this time my first line, having passed the open 
space under a very heav}^ direct and enfilading fire from 
the enemy's batteries on the ridge, were also under cover of 
the same works. In the meantime my second line was 
brought forward into the open ground and the men ordered 
to lie down. 

Fifteen minutes after the rifle pits were taken the General 
commanding the division ordered a charge upon the crest 
of the ridge. My brigade moved at once with cheers and a 
heart}' good will, the 2nd Minnesota occup3dng a position 



Appendix. 239 

in the first line. The precipitous ascent, the enem^^'s sharp- 
shooters in front and the terrific enfilading artillery fire 
upon each flank, were forgotten in their eager haste to 
storm the heights. My second line came forward at a run, 
and after a few moment's rest at the foot of the ridge, 
followed closeh' the advance. In fifteen minutes more our 
colors were upon the summit, and in twenty minutes the 
rebels had been driven out of their works on the crest, and 
we occupied the ground in front of the brigade. 

As my men sprang over the works, the enemy's cannon- 
iers were caught in the act of loading, and were bav'onetted 
or driven off before they coidd fire their pieces. Five guns 
were found here in position and captured by the brigade, 
two (2) by the 2nd Minnesota and three (3) by the 35th 
Ohio. The larger part of the enem3' retired along the ridge 
towards the left, vigQroush' pursued and driven near half a 
mile. 

For thirty minutes a very determined resistance was 
made by the enemy. Many of the troops of my command 
having in the charge up the ridge lost their regimental 
organization, wei-e in some disorder for a short time, but all 
pressed towards the enemy. The 9th Ohio and 75th In- 
diana came up in good order and were placed in line per- 
pendicular to the ridge and fronting the rebels. Darkness 
coming on, firing ceased on both sides, and my brigade 
bivouacked on the crest of Missionary Ridge. 

After the action one other piece of artillery abandoned 
b3^ the enemy was fotind 133- the 75th Indiana and taken 
charge of. 

The guns that were captured by my command were left 
w^here found while our men pursued the enemy along the 
ridge towards Tunnel Hill. While the3' were thvis absent 
the pieces were hauled off" to our rear bv men said to belong 
to Brig. Gen. Wood's division, which was upon our right. 
I saw these guns being taken towards the ground occupied 
b3' that division, and upon inquirv I was informed that 
they were being taken to a position where the3' could be 
used against the enemy. My Ijrigade at the same time 
captured one caisson with six horses attached, and a limber 
with one pair of horses; these two were taken to the rear 
with the guns. 

No other troops were near this battery when taken, — 
the,enem3' were driven from it Ijy my own men and we thus 
lost ])osscssion whilst gallantlv engaging the retreating 
rebel force. The next dav I moved with the rest of the 



240 Appendix. 

division to McAffee's Church and the succeeding to Ring- 
gold. We were not, however, actively engaged ; and on the 
29th marched back to our camp at Chattanooga. 

My loss vipon the 25th was 2 officers killed and 13 
wounded; 20 enlisted men killed and 126 wounded, 

In this action my brigade fully sustained the reputation 
it had won at Chickamauga. None flinched from their 
duty. 

I particularly commend the conduct of Col. Kammerling, 
9th Ohio, Col. Robinson, 75th Indiana, Col. Gleason, 87th 
Indiana, Lt. Col. Doan, 101st Indiana, Lt. Col. Bishop, 
2nd Minnesota, and Lt. Col. Boynton, 35th Ohio. These 
officers discharged their duties coolly and abU'. Lt. Col. 
Boynton was severely wounded earh^ in this engagement, 
when the command of his regiment devolved upon Maj. 
Budd, who is entitled to much praise for the energy and 
skill he exhibited in leading his men up the ridge. 

Especial credit is dvie Lt. Col. Bishop for the manage- 
ment of his regiment when skirmishing in front of the 
brigade, and the gallant manner in which his command car- 
ried the rifle pits at the foot of the ridge. 

There were man^' line officers and enlisted men who 
deserve commendation for their gallantry ; for their names 
I respectfully refer you to the reports of regimental com- 
manders. 

The members of my stafl' with me on the field were 
Capt. J. R. Beatty. A. \. A. Gen'l, Capt. C. A. Cilley, Brig. 
Inspector. Capt. W. R. Tuttle, Brig. Engineer, 1st Lieut. S. 
Fortner, Provost Marshall, 1st. Lt. S. D. Parsons, A. A. 
Quartermaster, and 1st Lt. C. B. Williams, A. D. C. They 
rendered me great service, and entitled themselves to praise 
for their gallant conduct. 
I am, Captain, 

Very respectfully, &c., 
(Signed) P. Van Derveer, 

Col. 35th O. V. I., 

Com'd'g 2nd Brigade. 



Appendix. 24-1 

[No. 24.] 

PROMOTIONS RECOMMENDED. 

Headquarters 2d Brigade. 3d Division, 14tb A. C. 

ViNiNGS Station, Ga., Juh^ 14th, 1864. 

Brig. Gen. Oscar Malmros, Adjt. Gen. State of Minnesota : 

General: — I havethehonor to recommend the following 

promotions in the 2nd Regiment Minnesota Volunteers 

now under mv command and forming part of the brigade, 

I. Lt. Col. J. W. Bishop to be Colonel. 

II. Major Calvin S. Uline to be Lt. Colonel. 

III. Capt. Clinton A. Cilley to be Major. 

The regiment now having received two detachments of 
recruits, nimibers six hundred and ninet3'-five (695) men 
aggregate, which, with two hundred recruits, w^hich I am 
informed are now on the way to join it, will entitle the 
oificers so promoted to be mustered accordingh-. 

I take this opportunit\' to state that the 2nd Minnesota 
Veteran Volunteer Infantry is regarded as one of the very 
best organizations in the service, and that the above 
named officers are especialh^ deserving of promotion for 
their efficiency and strict attention to duty. The good of 
the service and justice to these officers require that the 
regiment be filled to the minimum, in order that afullc|uota 
of field officers may be mustered. 
I am, very respectfulh', 

Your most obedient servant, 

N. Gleason, 
Col. Com'd'g 2d Brig., 3d Div., 14th A. C. 

(Endorsements. ) 

IIradquarters 3d, Division, 14th A. C. 
July 14th, 1864. 
The within recommendations for promotion in the 2nd 
Minn. Vols, are fully concurred in, and speedy action in the 
several cases urged. For nearh' a year these officers have 
served in my commands, and I know them to be competent 
and in every way worthy of promotion. 

Respectfully forwarded, 

.\. Baird, 
Brig. Gen. Com'd'g Division. 

16 



242 



Appendix. 



Headquarters 14th A. C. 
July 14th, 1864. 
Respectfully forwarded. The propriety of these promo- 
tions is unquestionable, and they are earnestly recom- 
mended. 

John M. Palmer, 

Maj. Gen. Com'd'g 14th A. C. 



Headquarters Department of the Cumberland. 

July 15th, 1864. 

Respectfully forwarded to his excellency the Governor of 

Minnesota, recommending that the promotion be made as 

requested of Lt. Col. Bishop, Major Uline and Capt. Cilley. 

Geo. H. Thomas, Maj. Gen. Com'd'g, 

Dept. of the Cumberland. 



[No. 25.] 



ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 



( Official Files, Adjutant GeneraVs Office, State of Minnesota. ) 

List of casualties in the Second Regiment Minnesota 
Volunteer Infantry during the three months ending Aug- 
6,1864: 

Name. Rank and Co. Date. 

John C.Jones 2d Lieut B June 18,1864 Killed. 

Peter G. Wheeler Sergt.Maj.N.C.S. " 22, " 

Spencer La vicount.. Private 
Nicholas Roppert.... Corporal 
Charles F. Meyer. ...Captain 

Samuel A. Field Private 

Joseph Orcutt Corporal 

DavidJ. BumgarnerPrivate 

Roswcll Ingalls 

Nelson Shelafoo 

Isaac Sherman 

Geo. Hetherington.. 

Henry Clinton 

Ira Holliday 

Francis Waldron 

James Whiting 

Squire Hoff. 



F 


" 22, 


" 


' 


' 


G 


" 18, 


" 


" 


G 


May 14, 


" Wounded. 


D 


June 1, 


" 


" 


C 


" 5, 


"W'd 


andc'd. 


A 


" 14, 


" W 


3unded. 


K 


" 18, 


" 






H 


" 18, 


" 






H 


" 18, 


" 






H 


" 18, 


" 






I 


" 18, 


" 






I 


" 18, 


" 






B 


" 18, 


" 






B 

F 


" 18, 
" 18, 


" 







Name. 


x^ r- r- c ix ui A . 

Rank and Co. 


Date. 




^■xci 


Wm. Bingham 


.Private 


C 


June 18,1864Wounded 


Martin V. Barber... 


" 


K 


" 19, ' 


' Mortally. 


Geo. Rutherford 


.Sergt. 


F 


" 19, ' 


' Wounded. 


Thomas Rutherford " 


D 


" 20, 






Nicholas Sons 


.Corporal 


E 


" 20, 






Geo. Ainsworth 


.Sergt. 


F 


" 22, 






Wm. Madden 


.Corporal 


F 


" 22, 






James Thornton... 


.Private 


F 


" 22, 






Frank Harris 




F 


" 22, 






Chas. F. Heyward 




• F 


" 22, 






John E. Colburn 




A 


" 22, 






Lewis Horst 


1 " 


E 
E 


" 26, 
Mav20, 






Thaddeus O'Kibbei 




Joseph Burger 




H 


July 9, 







Station — near Atlanta, Ga. 
Date— Aug. 26th, 1864. 

(Signed) J. W. Bishop, 

Lt. Col. Com'd'g 2nd Minn. 

Charles Jung, private Co. G, Sept. 1, wounded (Jones- 
boro). 

George Adams, private Co. C, Sept. 1, wounded, (Jones- 
boro). 

W.J.Johnson, private Co. C, Sept. 1, wounded, ( Jones- 
boro). 



[No. 26.] 

Complimentary Letter from Brig. Gen. A. Baird, Com'd'g 
Division, to Gov. Miller. 

(Certified copy in possession of J. W. B.) 

He.\d(^uakteks 3u Division, 14-th A. C. 
Savannah, Ga., January 6, 1865. 
His Excellency, S. Miller, Governor of Minnesota: 

Sir, — In consequence of a letter addressed by you to 
Maj. Gen. Thomas, commanding the Army of the Cumber- 
land, in which \'ou jjromise to fill uj) the 2nd Reg. Minn. 
Vols, from the sujjplcmcntary draft to be made in your 
state in November jiast, and ask that an officer be sent to 
receive the men, I have detailed Major Uline for that duty, 
with orders to report to you at St. Paul. 



244 AlM'ENDIX. 

I trust that the condition of affairs may be such as to 
enable you to carry out the design which you expressed in 
your letter, and that Maj. Uline maj^ soon return with the 
number of men required to fill up his ranks. 

This regiment has been under my command for more 
than a year, and has won for itself, and for the soldiers of 
your state, a high reputation. It is one of the very best 
regiments in an^- of our armies, and I am sure that your 
inen now entering the service cannot do moi'e for the honor 
of their state, or serve with greater profit to themselves, 
than by becoming attached to it. 

The three officers holding your commissions for the 
highest positions in the regiment are all men of remarkable 
merit, yet they are still serving in subordinate grades for 
want of the number of men required to muster them. They 
are Lt. Col. Bishop, Maj. Uline and Capt. Moulton, and 
all of them have earned their promotion many times since 
they have been under my command. 

I am, sir, most respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Baird, 
Brig. Gen. Com'd'g Div. 



[No. 27.] 

SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO. 

Report of Casualties, &c., to March 23d, 1865. 

( Official Files, Adjutant GenevnVs Office, State of Minnesota. ) 

Headquarters 2d Minnesota Volunteers, 
GoLDSBORO, N. C, March 23, 1865. 
Col. Oscar Malmros, Adjt. Gen'l, State of Minnesota: 

Colonel, — I have the honor to report the 2d Minnesota 
Vol. Inf. at this place on the 23d inst. Having just received 
our back mail for sixtv days we are overwhelmed with 
business, and a formal or detailed account now is out of 
the question. 

Our monthly returns for January, February and March 
will be made and forwarded as soon as we can procure the 
blanks. 

Our casualty list is hereto appended, and the following 
items may interest those who are intei'ested in the regiment. 



Appendix. 245 

The number of miles marehed from Savannah, Ga., Jan- 
uary 20th, to Goldsboro, March 23d, not inchiding forag- 
ing" or work on wagon roads, or in the destruction of 
railroads, was four hundred and eighty. Much of it was 
done in bad weather and on bad roads, and not a little of 
it by night. 

The number of serviceable horses and mules captured 
and turned in by the regiment was thirtj-. 

During the campaign w^e drew from the trains one third 
rations of hard bread, coffee and sugar; all other supplies 
were foraged from the covintr3' along the line of march. 
Our aggregate number present when we marched from 
Savannah on the 20th of January was 526. Decrease dur- 
ing the campaign of 63 days was: 

Men sent to general field hospital 11 

Missing, supposed to be captured 5 

Total decrease being about three per cent. 

Aggregate present on arriving at Goldsboro, March 23, 
510. 

When I remember that about one-half of the men of the 
regiment are recruits of but a few months' service, and that 
the campaign has been one of the severest on record, the 
very small percentage of loss from the effective force is 
more than satisfactory to me. 

I am equally grateful to the recruits (they ma3' well drop 
that name now) for their patient and heroic endurance of 
privations and hardships to which they were little accus- 
tomed, and to the veterans who have so uniformh^ given a 
soldierly example to those of less experience in the rough 
ways of war. 

We hope now to have a few days rest to obtain clothing 
and other much needed supplies, and having seven months' 
pay due us, a paymaster wt)uld find himself welcome here, 
too. 

I am, ver\' respectfully. 

Your most obedient servant, 

J. W. Bishop, Lt. Col. 
Com'd'g 2d Minn. Vol. Inf'y. 



246 Appendix. 

CASUALTY REPORT. 

DIED. 

Owen Lewis, Corporal Co. B... Feb. 25, '65, of disease. 

WOUNDED. 

William S. Lyman, private Co. B...In action, March 20. 

Christian Sanders, Sergt Co. G...In action, March 20. 

MISSING, SUPPOSED TO BE CAPTURED. 

Isaac A. Peterson, private Co. C. ..March 2d. 

Mars Oleson, private Co. C. .March 23d. 

Sylvanus Stone, private Co. C. ..March 3d. 

Ferdinand Birck, private Co. F.. .February 12. 

Thos. H. Garretson, private. ..Co. F... February 12. 

J. W. Bishop, Lt. Col. 
Com'd'g 2d Minn. Vol. Inf 'y. 

[No. 28.] 

PROMOTION ANNOUNCED. 

Headquarters 3d Div., 14th A. C. 
June 13th, 1865. 
Lt. Col. C. S. Uline, Com'd'g 2d Reg. Minn. Vols. : 

Colonel, — I have the honor to inform you that I have 
this day received from the Honorable Secretary of War, a 
letter of appointment as "Brigadier General of Volunteers , 
by Brevet." (Commission dated April 9, 1865). 

As I have never had permanently any other command 
than that of the regiment of which I have been for nearly 
four years a member, I desire to say through you that I 
attribute this complimentary promotion entirely to the 
gallant and soldierly conduct of the officers and men of 
that regiment, and that I tender to them my sincere thanks 
for the honor they have won for themselves and for me. 
I am, very respectfully. 

Your most obedient servant, 

J. W. Bishop, Col. 2d Minn. Vols. 

Brevt. Brig. Gen'l U. S. V. 



Appendix. 247 

[No. 29.] 

PROMOTION RECOMMENDED. 

He.\dquarters 14th A. C. 
Savannah, Ga., January 12, 1865. 
Adjutant General U. S. A. : 

Sir, — I have the honor to apply for the promotion by 
Brevet of the following named officers who have served 
with distinction in the campaign against Atlanta and 
Savannah : 

*»****»♦ 

Lt. Col. J. W. Bishop, 2d Minn. Vol. Inf'y. 
These officers have not only commanded their troops 
with uniform gallantry, but by their constant devotion to 
duty and attention to all the details and necessities of their 
commands, have brought them to a state of efficiency which 
entitles them to some recognition of their services. 
I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, &c.; 

Jef. C. Davis, 
Brevt. Maj. Gen. Com'd'g. 

Headquarters Left Wing, Army of Georgia. 
Savannah, Ga., Jan'y 12, '65. 
Respectfully forwarded, approved. 

H. W. Sloci:m, 

Maj. Gen. Com'd'g. 

SECOND RECOMMENDATION. 

Headquarters 14th A. C. 
Washington, D. C, May 29, 1865. 
Brig. Gen. L. Thomas, Adjt. Gen. U. S. .\rmy, "Wash- 
ington, D. C. : 

I have the honor to rejjort that on the 12th of Januar3' 
last I recommended Lt. Col. Bishop, of the 2d Minn. Vet. 
Vols., to the Department for promotion to the grade of 
Brigadier General l)}^ Brevet. Since that time this officer 
has been commissioned by the Governor of his state, 
Colonel of his regiment, and as such mustered. I desire 



248 Appendix. 

respectfully to again ask the attention of the Department 
to the merits and claims of Col. Bishop and to renew the 
recommendation. 

I am, very respectfull3^ 

Jef. C. Davis, 
Brvt. Maj. Gen. Com'd'g. 

Headqi'akters Army of Georgia. 
Near Washington, D. C, May 30, 1865. 
Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant General of the 
Army, approved. 

H. W. Slocum, 

Maj. Gen'l Com'd'g. 



[No. 30.] 

Regiment Reported Ready for Discharge by Gen. J. W. 
Bishop, Commanding Brigade. 

(Original document in possession of J. W. B. ) 

Headquarters 1st Brig., 3d Div., 14th Army Corps. 
Louisville, Ky., July 8th, 1865. 
Brev't Col. A. C. McClurg, A. A. G. and Chief of Staff, 
14th A. C. : 

Colonel,— Lt. Col. C. S. Uline, commanding 2d Regt. 
Minn. Vet. Vol. Inf 'y, reports that regiment ready, and to 
be mustered for discharge tomorrow — the 9th. 

1 have thei'efore the honor to request that I may be 
ordered to assume command of and to report it to chief 
mustering officer at Fort Snelling, Minn., for discharge and 
final payment. 

In making this application, permit me to say that as the 
time draws near when we are to leave the comrades we 
have so long served with, there are few, if any, who do not 
find that the joy and pride that we feel in the knowledge 
that our redeemed country no longer needs our service in 
the field, is mingled with a sadness that always attends 
the breaking up of long wonted associations. 

Identified with the fortunes of the 14th Corps from its 
organization, and in it the onl^^ representative of the State 
that sent vis to the field, it has been equally our care and 
>our pride as a regiment, that Minnesota should never 



Appendix. 249 

blush for the 14th Corps, and that the 14th Corps should 
never droop its laurels with shame at the name of Min- 
nesota. 

With the most grateful remembranee of the soldierly 
courtesy with which we have been uniformly treated by 
our comrades in arms from other states of the same, our 
own, country, I desire especiall3^ to acknowledge the kindh- 
interest in the regiment which has been so often manifested 
by the Generals commanding the Division and the Corps. 
I am, Colonel, very respectfully. 

Your most obedient servant, 

J. W. Bishop, 
Col. 2d Minn. Vols., 
and Brv't. Brig. Gen. Com'd'g Brigade. 



[No. 31.] 

Farewell Letter from Headquarters of 14th Army Corps, 
Gen. JeflF. C. Davis, Com'd'g. 

(Official document in possession of J. W. B.) 

Headquarters 14th Army Corps, 
Louisville, Ky., July 9, 1865. 

General, — I have the honor to enclose to you a copy of 
the order relieving 3'our regiment from the Corps and 
directing 3^ou to report it at Fort Snelling. 

Until the time of separation came, none knew how 
strong were the attachments formod during the months 
and 3'ears of association in hardships and dangers as 
soldiers. His relations to the officers and men of the 2d 
Minnesota have always been a matter of pride and satis- 
faction to the Corps Commander, and from no regiment in 
the corps will he part with a deeper regret. He thanks one 
and all of the members of the organization for the con- 
stancy and devotion which have always marked their 
attention to the duties and requirements of soldiers in 
camp and on the march as well as on the field of action. 

He congratulates you that your labors, hardships and 
dangers are over, and that with a country restored to peace 
and prosperity — parth^ through your exertions and sacri- 
fices, you return once more to your homes. 



250 Appendix. 

None have a better record for discipline and drill and all 
the minutiae of soldierly conduct as well as uniform gal- 
lantry on every field of action in which they have been 
engaged than the 2d Minnesota, and your state owes you 
thanks for the uniforml3^ faithful manner in which you 
have performed your share of the task allotted to the 
soldiers of the Union. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, &c., 

A. C. McClurg, Brvt. Col., 

A. A. G. and Chief of Staff. 

Brvt. Brig. Gen. J. W. Bishop, 
Com'd'g 2d Minn. Vols. 



[No. 32.] 

Final Order to Report at F'ort Snelling for Muster-Out. 
(Original document in possession of J. W. B.) 

Headquarters 14th Army Corps, 

Louisville, Kv., July 9, 1865. 

Special Orders, \ 
No. 5. I 

( Extract. ) 

II. The 2d Minnesota V. V. Infantry having been mus- 
tered on muster-out rolls, in accordance with existing 
orders, Brvt. Brig. Genl. ]. W. Bishop, Colonel of the 
regiment, is hereby at his own request relieved from 
command of the 1st Brigade, 3d Division, 14th A. C, and 
will proceed forthwith with his regiment to Fort Snelling, 
Minn., and there report it in accordance with provisions of 
General Orders, No. 94, (C. S.) A. G. O., to the Chief Mus- 
tering Officer of the State of Minnesota (or his assistant at 
that point) for final discharge. 

By command of Brevet Major Jeff. C. Davis. 
A. C. McClurg, 
Asst. Adjt. Genl. and Chief of Staff. 

Brvt. Brig. Genl. J. W. Bishop, 

Com'd'g 1st Brig., 3d Div., 14th A. C. 



Appendix. 251 

[No. 33.] 

ROSTER OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 

In Service when the Regiment Departed for the South, 
October, 1861. 

FIELD AND STAFF. 

Colonel, Horatio P. Van Cleve; Lieutenant Colonel, 
James George; Major, Alexander Wilkin; Adjutant, Daniel 
HeancA-; Quartermaster, W. S. Grow; Quartermaster Ser- 
geant, S. D. Parsons; Sergeant Major, C. A. Cilley; Sur- 
geon, R. H. Bingham; Assistant Surgeon, M. C. Tolman ; 
Chaplain, T. R. Cressey. 

Company A — Captain, Judson W. Bishop; 1st Lieut., 
Charles Haven; 2d Lieut., Charles H. Barnes. 

Compan}^ B — Captain William Markham; 1st Lieut., 
Daniel Heaney; 2d Lieut., Abram Harkins. 

Company C— Captain, Peter Mantor; 1st Lieut., HenrA* 
C. Simpson ; 2d Lieut., David B. Bailey. 

Company D — Captain, Horace H. Western; 1st Lieut., 
Moses C. Tuttle; 2d Lieut., Samuel P. Jennison. 

Company E — Captain, Asgrim K. Skaro ; 1st Lieut., 
E. St. Julian Co.x; 2d Lieut., Jeremiah C. Donahower. 

Company F— Captain, John B. Davis; 1st Lieut., David 
B. Loomis ; 2d Lieut., John S. Livingston. 

Company G— Captain, Andrew R. Kiefer; 1st Lieut., 
Jacob Mainzer; 2d Lieut., Fred A. Brandt. 

Company H— Captain, Nelson W. Dickinson: 1st Lieut., 
John R. Beatt}' ; 2d Lieut., Jerome Dame. 

Company I — Captain, John Foote; 1st Lieut., William 
S. Grow; 2d Lieut., Calvin S. Uline. 

Company K — Captain, J. J. Noah; 1st Lieut., Wm. W. 
Woodburj' ; 2d Lieut., Ephraim A. Otis. 

[No. 34.] 

ROSTER OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS 
At Re-Enlistment, Chattanooga, Tenn., January, 1864. 

FIELD AND STAFF. 

Colonel, James George, absent on sick leave; Lieut. Col., 
J. W. Bishop, Com'd'g; Major, John B. Davis; Adjutant, J. 
W. Wood; Quartermaster, S. D. Parsons; Surgeon, M. C. 
Tolman; Assistant Surgeon, W^m. Brown. 



252 Appendix. 

Company A— Captain, Levi Ober; 1st Lieut., Ed. Kenny. 

Company B— Captain, Abram Harkins ; 1st Lieut., W. 
W. Wilson ; 2d Lieut., John C. Jones. 

Company C— Captain, C. A. Cilley ; 1st Lieut., H. K. 
Couse; 2d Lieut., Matthias Thoeny. 

Company D — Captain, John Moulton; 1st Lieut., Hiram 
Lobdell. 

Company E — Captain, J. C. Donahower; 1st Lieut., 
Augustus E". Alden; 2d Lieut., Thomas G. Scott. 

Company F— Captain, David B. Loomis ; 1st Lieut., 
John S. Livingston; 2d Lieut., Edward Wait. 

Company G— Captain, C. F. Meyer; 1st Lieut., Henning 
V. Rumohr; 2d Lieut., Charles Rampe. 

Company H— Captain, John R. Beatty ; 1st Lieut., L. N. 
Holmes; 2d Lieut., Thomas G. Quayle. 

Company I — Captain, C. S. Uline; 1st Lieut., Tenbroeck 
Stout. 

Company K — Captain, W. W. Woodbury; 2d Lieut., D. 
S. Coverdale. 



[No. 35.] 

FINAL ROSTER OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS 
At Muster-out, July, 1865. 

Colonel, Judson W. Bishop ( Brvt. Brigadier General); 
Lieutenant Colonel, C. S. Uline; Major, John Moulton; 
Adjutant, F. S. Hoffstott; Surgeon, Wm. Brov\m ; Chaplain, 
Levi Gleason ; Quartermaster, J. L. Kenny; Sergeant 
Major, W. C. Wynkoop; Ouai'termaster Sergeant, W. C. 
Garrett; Commissary Sergeant, Samuel Bowler; Hospital 
Steward, Robert Baile3^ ; Musician, R. G. Rhodes (leader of 
the band). 

Company A — Capt. Ed. L. Kennv; 1st Lieut., A. Kalder; 
2d Lieut., A. McCorkle. 

Company B — Captain. J. W. Wood; 1st Lieut., J. L. 
Gaskill ; 2d Lieut., F. Kelse^-. 

Company C— Captain M. Thoeny; 1st Lieut., W. H. 
Mills; 2d Lieut., J. P. Jackson. 

Company D — Captain, G. W. Shuman ; 1st Lieut., J. T. 
McCoy ; 2d'^Lieut., J. W. Stuart. 

Company E — Captain, T. G. Scott; 1st Lieut., B. F. 
Sylvester; 2d Lieut., T. D. Fowble. 



Al'PKNDIX. 258 

Company F — Captain, J. S. Livingston; 1st Lieut., C. 
H. Friend; 2d Lieut., F. R. Harris. 

Compan\^ G — Captain, H. V. Rumohr; 1st Lieut., A. G. 
Essen ; 2d Lieut., F. Lambrecht. 

Company H — Captain, L. N. Holmes ; 1st Lieut., E. K. 
Wasser; 2d Lieut., Daniel Fagan. 

Company I — Captain, T. Stout; 1st Lieut., E. V.Dickev; 
2d Lieut., H. H. Hills. 

Company K — Captain, D. S. Coverdale; 1st Lieut., A. 
H. Reed; 2d Lieut., A. B. White. 

(Only three of these officers appear in the list of original 
commissioned officers.) 



[No. 86.] 

MEMORANDA. 

Date of mustering the first two companies June 26, 1861 

Date of organization as a regiment Juh^ 22, 1861 

Date of re-muster in as veterans Dec. 29, 1868 

Date of final payment and discharge J"Iy ^0- 1865 

Number of men mustered into the regiment 1,780 

Number of men commissioned as officers 91 

Number of men wounded in action 276 

Of whom were killed or mortally wounded 68 

Number of men died of diseases 167 

Number of men discharged for disabilitj' 277 

Number transferred or promoted out of the regiment.. 76 

Number reported as deserted 61 

Number of officers resigned 40 

Number of men discharged at the end of three 3^ears' 

time, or at end of war and away from regiment... 353 
Number of men present at final discharge of regiment 699 
Number of men on the rolls at the final muster out 821 

It appears that of the whole number of men mustered 
into the regiment from first to last, about 15 per cent were 
wounded in battle, and about one fotirth of these were 
killed or mortally wounded. 

Nearly 9 per cent of the whole number died in the 
service of disease, and 15 per cent were discharged for dis- 
ability; 4Mj per cent were transferred or promoted out of 
the regiment, SYj per cent deserted the service, and 214 per 
cent (officers) resigned for various reasons during the four 
years' service. Twenty per cent of the whole number were 



254 Appendix. 

discharged at the expiration of the original years' enlist- 
ment, and at the close of the war but away from the regi- 
ment, and 40 per cent of the whole number were present in 
the regiment at its final muster out. 

Of the thirty-seven commissioned officers who were in 
the regiment at the end of its service, onl3' three were com- 
missioned officers at the beginning; all the others (except 
the surgeon) had been promoted from the ranks. 

While the regiment had various jjeriods of encampment 
or post duty, it had considerable exercise on foot. In 1862, 
'63 and '64 it marched by the record 5,153 miles; an 
average of 4% miles a day, including Sundays, for the 
whole time. No record was kept for 1861 or 1865. It is 
believed, however, that the average daily marching in those 
years would exceed that for the years given. 



[No. 37,] 

RE-UNIOl^I OF 1887. 

Letter from Colonel H. V. N. Boynton. 

Washington, Aug. 11, 1887. 

My Dear General Bishop, — You may be sure I was 
glad to receive your invitation for the re-union of the 
Second Minnesota — of glorious deeds and memories. The 
historical pamphlet you sent me was one of the most wel- 
come documents I ever received. For, aside from all that 
pertained to your own regiment, there was much which 
was common to all the comrades in the brigade. In fact, 
it is impossible to separate the history of the Second Min- 
nesota, the Thirty-fifth Ohio, the Ninth Ohio and the 
Eighty-seventh Indiana. I am sure each is proud of the 
splendid record of the others. No doubt it has often 
occurred to you, as it has to me, that while nian3' other 
brigades did all that could be done on many fields, it hap- 
pened to few to have the record of ours in one respect. We 
had the peculiar good fortune to be never obliged either b\' 
the enem}' or by the contingencies of movements on any 
field to give a foot of ground in the presence of the enemy. 
That is a heritage which we all share. It would give me 
keen pleasure to meet you again. Give an old comrade's 
love to the living veterans of your regiment. They may 
not remember me, but I have vividly and proudly in mind 
their splendid bearing at Chicamauga and Mission Ridge 



Appendix. 255 

and other fields of their renown. I am sorry that I cannot 
attend the re-union; if it were possible, I would go. 
Believe me, dear General, with a thrill of the old times, 

Cordiall3' j'ours, 

H. V. BOYNTON, 

(Late Lt. Col. com'd'g 35th Ohio Vols. ) 

Telegram from Colonel Ferdinand VanDerveer. 

Hamilton, Ohio, Sept. 15, 1887. 
To Gen. J. W. Bishop: 

I wish I could meet with the old bo3^s of the Second 
Minnesota toda}'. Their soldierh' qualities were unsur- 
passed on the field of battle. I remember them as the 
regiment without a straggler at Chicamauga. Convey to 
them not only my profound respect but say in addition 
that my heart goes out to them. They deserve well of our 
country. 

Very trul3^ 

F. VanDerveer, 
(Late Col. 35th Ohio Vols., com'd'g Brigade. ) 

Letter from General A. Baird. 

Hotel Chatham, Paris, Oct. 1st, 1887. 
Gen. J. W. Bishop: 

My Dear General, — Your kind letter of Sept. 3d, invit- 
ing me to attend the re-union of the surviving members of 
the Second Minnesota Regiment on Sept. 15th, has been 
forwarded and has reached me here, where I have been to 
attend certain military maneuvers of French troops. It 
reached my hand too late for a reply to be read at the 
meeting, which I regret as well as not being able to be 
there myself. 

The word "surviving" which you use is a sad one. Most 
of the men must have been \^ounger than I, yet I survive, 
but to retire from active service next year. Every man of 
the Second Minnesota Regiment ought to feel proud that 
he belonged to it. I have known your regiment well, as 
you know. I have seen tlie soldiers of all countries, and 1 
can truthfullv sav that I have never seen men that I would 



256 Appendix. 

more willingly trust myself with in an hour requiring the 
highest strain on manhood and bravery, than those of the 
Second Minnesota. 

With the warmest friendship for yourself and for the 
regiment, 

Most truly yours, 

A. Baiku, 
( Late Maj. Gen. com'd'g Division. ) 

Letter from General W. S. Rosecrans. 

Treasury Department, Register's Office. 

Sept. 6th, 1887. 
J. W. Bishop, Esq. : 

Dear Comrade, — I remember the Second Minnesota 
very well, and am a witness to their gallantry, patriotism 
and courage. I have good reason to remember it grate- 
fully. 

Please present my best wishes to the assembled comrades 
and tell them that, if duty permitted, I should enjoy noth- 
ing better than to be at the re-union in St. Paul on the 15th 
inst. 

Since dictating the above, the pamphlet "Official Records" 
of the regiment liPS come to hand, and revives many liveh* 
memories of the Second's fighting and staying qualities. 
My warmest good wishes to each comrade of that regi- 
ment. 

Very truly yours, 

W. S. Rosecrans. 
(Late Maj. Gen. com'd'g Army of the Cumberland.) 



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